After years of delay, $24 billion iron ore mine in West African nation ships first cargo to China

Guinea has shipped its first cargo of iron ore from the long-delayed Simandou project, marking a major milestone for one of Africa’s largest mining developments and boosting the continent’s role in global steel supply chains.

According to the Securities Times, a deep-sea cargo ship carrying 200,000 tons of high-grade iron ore departed the Port of Morebaya at 5:30 pm local time on Tuesday.

The vessel, bound for the Port of Majishan in Ningbo, East China’s Zhejiang Province, is scheduled to arrive on January 15, 2026. The journey typically takes three to four weeks, with extra time for port handling and customs procedures.

The shipment marks the start of commercial exports from Simandou and activates the project’s full industrial chain, connecting mining operations with railways, ports, and shipping.

Simandou’s iron has attracted the world’s largest mining companies for decades, but development has been delayed by complex logistics, political instability, corruption allegations, and legal disputes.

In March 2022, Guinea suspended all activity to clarify how the country’s interests would be protected. Operations formally resumed a year later, in March 2023, with a government ceremony marking the start of substantive development.

The following year, China Harbour Engineering Co, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Co, won the bid to dredge the entrance channel and port basins for the project.

The dredging work, ongoing for 21 months since the project’s resumption, involved the shared channels and port basins. Several consortium-backed groups are now running the mine, and rail transport of ore has begun, with shipments already on their way to international ports.

At inception, the total cost of the project was estimated at $24 billion. It includes four iron ore blocks in southern Guinea and a 600-kilometre railway to transport ore to the coast.

Two main sponsors are leading development: Singapore-based Winning International Group, responsible for Blocks 1 and 2 in the north, and Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto, which heads the Simfer consortium developing Blocks 3 and 4 in the south. Simfer has committed $11.6 billion, including $6.2 billion from Rio Tinto.

Located in southeastern Guinea, the Simandou deposit is one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped iron ore resources in the world, with estimates exceeding 4 billion tons and an average iron grade above 65 percent.

The start of exports is expected to strengthen Guinea’s position among Africa’s leading mineral producers and integrate the country further into global steel and industrial supply chains.