Rio Tinto, China firms keen on Guinea assets

Visitors check out Rio Tinto's booth during a supply chain expo in Beijing in December. WU CHANGQING/FOR CHINA DAILY

BEIJING: Collaborating with Chinese companies to jointly develop Simandou, the high-grade iron ore deposit in Guinea, Africa, represents a unique opportunity amid increasing demand for higher-grade, lower-impurity iron ore as steelmakers seek to reduce carbon emissions worldwide, says a company executive.

“Our partnership with Chinese companies on the Simandou project, which will become Africa’s largest integrated infrastructure and mining project once completed, is groundbreaking,” said Gerard Rheinberger, managing director of Simandou, Rio Tinto.