A China-backed joint venture between Guinea’s Societe
Miniere de Boke (SMB) and Singapore’s Winning scored a big win in the
iron ore world after securing on Wednesday rights to develop the northern area
of Simandou, one of the world’s largest untapped deposits of the steelmaking
ingredient.
The $14 billion bid submitted by SMB-Winning consortium,
whose investors include Chinese aluminium producer Shandong Weiqiao and the
Yantaï Port Group, edged out Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group’s
(ASX:FMG) offer, which remains unknown.
Guinea, which launched an international tender for blocks 1 and 2 of Simandou in mid-July, said the consortium had committed to build a 650km railway and a deep-water port on the Guinean coast to transport the ore out of the country.
More to come…