Guinea expects Simandou iron ore to produce 60Mt in second year

GUINEA expects its Simandou iron ore project to hit full production during the second year of operation, according to a report by Bloomberg News.Mines and Geology Minister Bouna Sylla told Bloomberg TV in an interview that the two mines at the world’s largest untapped iron-ore deposit will produce 30 million tons (Mt) each in the first year.Output is then expected to double to 60Mt at each site the following year, said Sylla on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town. For a mine “to arrive at 60Mt, that will take roughly two years because you have the ramp-up time,” Sylla said.The Simandou project is divided into four blocks, with blocks 1 and 2 controlled by Winning Consortium Simandou, backed by Chinese companies including China Baowu Steel Group. Rio Tinto Plc and Aluminum Corp. of China, known as Chinalco, own blocks 3 and 4.In addition to its iron ore deposits, Guinea is also the world’s biggest exporter of bauxite, a raw material used to make aluminum.The Simandou project has seen its construction delayed for years by legal wrangling and political changes locally.The project has also been delayed by the difficulty and cost of the 600km of rail and port that need to be built to export the ore from the mines in the southeast of the country.The post Guinea expects Simandou iron ore to produce 60Mt in second year appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com