Three months later, guinea's government has again suspended simandou, a giant iron ore project in Africa.
The Guinean government has ordered Rio Tinto and WCS to suspend development of the Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea after they failed to reach an agreement by an extended deadline, Mining.com reported.
Moussa Magassouba, Guinea's mining minister and a member of the current military junta, says that neither Simfer, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, nor Win lack the will to co-operate.
Win alliance is composed of four enterprises, including Singapore Welli International Group, Shandong Weiqiao Venture Group's China Hongqiao Group, Guinea UMS and China Yantai Port Group.
On July 3, Mr Magasoba reportedly wrote to the two groups saying guinea had asked them on June 19 to form a joint venture to develop the $15bn iron ore project, and had extended the deadline for agreement by another 14 days. Mr Magasuba said the slow progress in reaching a partnership had "greatly compromised the efficiency of the development of the project and the interests of those involved". From July 4, he said, all simandou development across the country must stop.
"The time the company took to put the framework agreement in place was far from what we wanted. This situation is no longer regrettable but completely unacceptable, "majasoba said.
The minister added that although "the Guinean government has made significant concessions, it is clear that the resistance comes from the two companies and the interests of the project are harmed".
Guinea's current government, which took power in a military coup last September, has become increasingly impatient with the companies that control the giant Simandou deposit.
The government had previously ordered the suspension of simandou and its supporting infrastructure. In March, Rio tinto and Winwin were forced to sign a framework agreement to "jointly build" the project's infrastructure, including a 670-kilometre railway and a port. Mr Magasoba had said that under an agreement reached at the time, guinea's government would take a 15 per cent stake in railways, ports and mining areas. "The infrastructure will be built by December 2024, with first production in March 2025," Majasoba said.
In June, the junta gave the two companies another 14 days to negotiate a joint venture.
Guinean authorities said the companies risked losing their licenses if they failed to meet the tight deadlines for the project.
Simandou has not been developed since Rio was granted a licence to explore the mine 25 years ago.
Simandou is the world's largest and highest quality undeveloped iron ore. Simandou has more than 10 billion tons of total resources, according to Huarong Futures. Among them, there are 2.25 billion tons of iron ore resources, and the proven taste of iron ore is about 66%-67%, far higher than the global average grade of iron ore. The annual output is expected to reach 150 million tons after it is put into operation.
While exporting iron ore through neighbouring Liberia is closer and cheaper, Guinea's government has repeatedly demanded that Simandou's developers must build a railway across the country.
