Guinean authorities ordered work on Simandou to stop in July last year in a bid to force the shareholders - which include Rio Tinto , Aluminium Corporation of China (Chinalco), and China Baowu Steel (Baowu) - to agree joint venture terms.
The partners aim for final terms to be agreed at the latest
on Feb. 28, Guinea's military junta said in a statement
summarising a visit by coup leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya and
other top officials to China from Jan. 11-22, during which they
met with Baowu.
"The mission was excellent and conclusive as it commits to
the huge Simandou project restarting as soon as possible in
March 2023, subject to negotiations on the project terms being
finalised on Feb. 28 at the latest," the junta's communications
department said.
According to the statement, Doumbouya gave Baowu his support
for its investment in Simandou, but reminded the company of the
deadlines the project must meet.
In March last year the junta, which took power in a Sept.
2021 coup, said the Simandou infrastructure - a 600-kilometre
railway and a port - must be completed by Dec 2024 and
production must start by March 31, 2025, a timeline analysts say
is highly ambitious.
(Reporting by Saliou Samb and Sofia Christensen, Writing by
Helen Reid, Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
