The continent’s largest greenfield integrated mine and infrastructure project has started operations.

At the heart of the US$23 billion project is Simandou, in south-eastern Guinea, the site of the world’s largest known untapped deposit of high-grade iron ore.

The multi-pronged project has been developed by the Guinean government in partnership with SimFer and the Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), reports Mining Weekly.

The project includes 600 km of multi-use railway, and port facilities in the Forécariah prefecture to accommodate barge and transshipment vessels.

Once testing and commissioning of the mine, rail and barge port system is complete, the project will be able to support the export of a total 120 million tons a year of iron ore, from the SimFer and WCS concessions. Both operations have started transporting ore on the rail system.

When fully commissioned the rail and port infrastructure will be transferred to Compagnie du TransGuinéen, in which WCS and SimFer each hold a 42.5% stake and the Guinean government holds 15%.

18 November 2025
Image: Unsplash