(Bloomberg) -Winning Consortium Simandou, the group that develops half of a giant iron ore deposit in Guinea, suspended in the Kerouane mine after an accident in which three foreign employees died. “Emergency procedures were activated immediately, and medical teams in the local hospital did everything,” the company said in a statement without giving details about the cause of the accident. ‘Operations have been suspended to enable a complete review of safety procedures.’ WCS owns the rights on two mining concessions that are part of the Simandou Iron Ore project, while a joint venture led by Rio Tinto Plc and Aluminum Corp. of China, known as Chatterco, contains the other two blocks. Both groups are scheduled to export their first shipping of the steel manufacturing ingredient next month and increase their combined production to 120 million tonnes per year. The volume is equivalent to about 5% of the total global iron ore production in 2024. The Guinea government says it intends to use the economic boost provided by the mines to transform one of the poorest countries on the planet. WCS’s statement did not say whether the stopping would affect the timeline for the first consignment. An investigation is underway and operations will resume as soon as safety conditions can be fully guaranteed, according to the WCS statement. The suspension follows a temporary stop at Rio’s mining site in August after a worker died. WCS is controlled by Chinese and Singaporese companies, including China Baowu Steel Group Ltd., which is the world’s largest steel manufacturer. The Guinese State has a minority interest in both consortiums. (Updated with information about Simandou in the third paragraph. An earlier version of the story corrected the name of the business in the head) More stories like this are available on Bloomberg.com © 2025 Bloomberg LP
WCS stop working at Guinea iron ore mine to fatal accidents
