The transport link will cost billions of pounds (Image: Getty)
A mega rail project in Africa has been given the green light and will provide much-needed investment.
Plans to develop a huge new iron ore mine have been given the go-ahead by authorities in Guinea.
Discovered back in the 1990s, iron ore deposits in the country’s Simandou mountains will now be extracted after a deal was struck between Rio Tinto and the Singapore company Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) – both of which hold majority stakes in the mining complex.
Simandou is poised to become the world’s largest and highest-grade new iron ore mine.
The Simandou Mountains have large deposits of iron ore (Image: Thierno Bah Google Maps)
It has an estimated reserve of over 1.8 billion tons – the iron content of which exceeds 65.5 percent.
The majority of the iron ore is expected to be exported to China, the world’s leading steel manufacturer.
The reserves are located in the heart of the Simandou Mountains, near the borders of Liberia and the Ivory Coast.
To transport the iron ore, a new railway line will be constructed connecting the mountainous region to the coast.
The 600 km (373 miles) train line will run from near Port Morebaya eastwards to Forecariah Port and then along the border with Sierra Leone to reach a terminus in the Simandou mining area.
The TransGuinean corridor will require the construction of 235 bridges and more than 24km (15 miles) of tunnels, the longest of which will be 11km (7 miles).
The costs of the infrastructure project will be covered by the two international mining giants.
WCS will build the 536km dual-track mainline (333 miles), a 16km (10 miles) spur line to its mine, as well as a wharf at Matakong to handle 60 million tons of iron ore per year.
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Rio Tinto will build the port itself, including an iron ore terminal and a 70km (43 miles) spur line to its mine, investing a total of US$6.2 billion (£4.8bn).
The line may also eventually help connect the country with its neighbours, providing a major economic boost.
Officials believe the line represents a real opportunity to establish a strategic corridor for passenger and freight transportation to Mali, Burkina Faso, and northern Nigerian cities.
Source link : https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1895485/train-line-tunnels-project-africa-Guinea/amp
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Publish date : 2024-05-03 07:00:00
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