Rio Tinto first obtained an exploration license for Simandou in 1997. Since then, the country has seen two of his coups, four heads of state, and three presidential elections.
Timeline: Battle of Simandu
In 2024, Rio Tinto plans to begin its most complex project in history once the mining company’s state-run Chinese partner receives final approval from the Chinese government.
“There is nothing else of this size and scale,” said Bordo Baatar, head of Rio Tinto’s copper business. financial times In an interview.
Rio Tinto plans to partner with a Chinalco-led consortium to build an iron ore mine at the Simfer project. The second mine, the WCS project, will be built by Baowu in partnership with a consortium led by Singapore-based Winning International Group.
The parties also plan to co-finance the construction of a 552-kilometer railway.
Mr. Baatar said: financial times We believe Simandou has the potential to contribute to the decarbonization of China’s steel industry.
“We believe that some of the ore bodies we are studying are very suitable for direct reduced iron,” Bartal said. F.T..
“The only way for the steel industry to decarbonize globally is for China to decarbonize.”
Initial production from the two blocks shared by Rio Tinto is expected to increase to a capacity of 60 million tonnes per year over 30 months starting in 2025.
The company announced that its share of production will be 27 million tons.
(With files from Reuters)