Rio Tinto in Talks With Guinea Junta in Bid to Overturn Halt of Simandou Iron-Ore Project

By Emmanuel Tumanjong

Special to Dow Jones Newswires

A Rio Tinto PLC executive has said the company is in talks with the military junta of Guinea regarding the West African nation's halting of work on the huge iron-ore deposits of Simandou.

"We're in discussion with the government of Guinea and support their view that co-investment and development of rail and port infrastructure is the best way to develop Simandou projects," Bold Baatar, Rio Tinto's director of copper told reporters Wednesday.

He arrived the Guinean capital Conakry on Tuesday night to hold talks with the country's military junta, whose leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya had ordered last week that work on the Simandou iron-ore project be halted.

Col. Doumbouya had ordered at a government cabinet meeting last week that work on the project be halted for the sake of "the interests of Guinea" and that there had been no progress on the matter.

Rio Tinto, Chinese-backed Boke Mining Co., Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., and the government of Guinea all have interests in the iron-ore and bauxite deposit.

Mr. Baatar said Rio Tinto aims to "work with the [Guinea] government and all other partners to create the appropriate structure to advance the Simandou project for Guinea and all stakeholders."

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 17, 2022 10:56 ET (14:56 GMT)

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