Conditions on Simandou investment now satisfied
Along with the recent approval by the
More than 600 kilometres of new multi-use trans-Guinean railway together with port facilities will allow the export of up to 120 million tonnes per year of mined iron ore by Simfer and WCS from their respective Simandou mining concessions in the southeast of the country3. Together, this will be the largest greenfield integrated mine and infrastructure investment in
“Simandou will deliver a significant new source of high-grade iron ore that will strengthen Rio Tinto’s portfolio for the decarbonisation of the steel industry, along with trans-Guinean rail and port infrastructure that can make a significant contribution to the country’s economic development.”
Under the terms of the transaction, Simfer will acquire a participation in the WCS project companies constructing rail and port infrastructure, commit to perform a portion of the construction works itself and commit to funding its share of the overall co-developed infrastructure cost, in an aggregate amount of approximately
The co-developed infrastructure capacity and associated cost will be shared equally between Simfer, which will develop, own and operate a 60 million tonne per year5 mine in blocks 3 and 4 of the
Under the co-development arrangement, Simfer and WCS will deliver separate infrastructure scopes to leverage expertise. Simfer will construct the approximately 70 kilometre Simfer spur rail line and a 60 million tonne per year transhipment vessel (TSV) port, while WCS will construct the dual track approximately 536 kilometre main rail line, the approximately 16 kilometre WCS spur rail line and a 60 million tonne per year barge port.
Once complete, all co-developed infrastructure and rolling stock will be transferred to and operated by the Compagnie du Transguinéen (CTG) joint venture, in which Simfer and WCS each hold a 42.5% equity stake and the Guinean State a 15% equity stake6.
First production from the Simfer mine is expected in 2025, ramping up over 30 months to an annualised capacity of 60 million tonnes per year5 (27 million tonnes
Simfer's capital funding requirement for the Simandou project as a whole is estimated to be approximately
US dollars in billions (nominal terms) |
Simfer capex |
|
|
Mine and TSVs, owned and operated by Simfer |
|
|
|
Development of an initial 60Mt/a mine at Simandou South (blocks 3 & 4), to be constructed by Simfer |
|
|
|
Co-developed infrastructure, owned and operated by CTG once complete |
|
|
|
Simfer scope (funded 100% by Simfer during construction)
Rail: a 70 km rail-spur from Simfer mine to the mainline, including rolling stock
|
|
|
|
WCS scope (funded 34% by Simfer during construction) Port and rail infrastructure including an approximately 552 km trans-Guinean heavy haul rail system, comprised of a 536 km mainline and a 16 km WCS rail spur |
|
|
|
Total capital expenditure (nominal terms) |
|
|
|
Further details on the Simandou project can be found in the 2023 Investor Seminar presentation at https://www.riotinto.com/en/invest/investor-seminars.
As
___________________________ |
1 Approval has been granted by the Board of |
2 WCS is the holder of Simandou North Blocks 1 & 2 (with the Government of |
3 WCS holds the mining concession for Blocks 1 and 2, while |
4 A true-up mechanism will apply between Simfer and WCS to equalise most of their costs of constructing the co-developed rail and port infrastructure. The figures shown here are pre-equalisation. |
5 The estimated annualised capacity of approximately 60 million dry tonnes per annum iron ore for the Simandou life of mine schedule was previously reported in a release to the |
6 Ownership of the rail and port infrastructure will transfer from CTG to the Guinean State after a 35 year Operations Period, with Simfer retaining access rights on a non-discriminatory basis and at least equivalent to all Third Party Users. |
7 By the end of 2023, |
This announcement is authorised for release to the market by
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240621382292/en/
Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com
Media Relations,
M +44 7796 630 637
M +44 7787 597 493
Media Relations,
M +61 433 525 739
M +61 436 653 412
Alyesha Anderson
M +61 434 868 118
M +61 458 609 322
Media Relations,
M +1 514 796 4973
M +1 418 592 7293
Vanessa Damha
M +1 514 715 2152
Investor Relations,
M +44 7920 010 978
M +44 7826 942 797
Investor Relations,
M +61 439 353 948
Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948
6 St James’s Square
T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in
No. 719885
Level 43,
T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in
ABN 96 004 458 404
Category: Simandou
Source: