Conditions to develop Guinea Simandou iron ore deposit met (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Sydney, 16 Jul - Rio Tinto separately said that all conditions for it investment to develop the Simandou high-grade iron ore deposit in Guinea, including the completion of necessary Guinean and Chinese regulatory approvals, have been satisfied with completion expected this week.

Along with the recent approval by the board of Simfer, this allows Simfer to invest in and fund its share of co-developed rail and port infrastructure being progressed in partnership with Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), Baowu, and the Republic of Guinea.

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 country. Together, this will be the largest greenfield integrated mine and infrastructure investment in Africa, Rio Tinto said.

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 6.5 billion dollars, of which Rio Tinto's share is approximately 3.5 billion.

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 year mine in blocks 3 and 4 of the Simandou Project, and WCS, which is developing blocks 1 and 2.

First production from the Simfer mine is expected in 2025, ramping up over 30 months to an annualised capacity of 60 million tonnes per year, of which 27 million tonnes is the share for Rio Tinto.

Simfer's capital funding requirement for the Simandou project as a whole is estimated to be approximately 11.6 billion, of which Rio Tinto's share is approximately 6.2 billion.

AAA-Sch

(RADIOCOR) 16-07-24 12:49:44 (0346) 5 NNNN