November 15, 2019//- SMB-Winning Consortium has won a tender for the iron ore deposits in Simandou Blocks I and II in Guinea, following a call for tenders issued by the Guinean government.
In accordance with the Special Terms and Conditions relating to the Invitation to Tender for the granting of mining rights on the iron ore deposits in Blocks I and II of Simandou, the SMB-Winning Consortium also undertakes to export its ore via the Guinean territory, by building a railway line of more than 650 kilometers and a deep-water port in Matakong.
Since its creation in 2014, SMB – a consortium formed by the Singaporean shipowner Winning Shipping, the Chinese aluminium producer Shandong Weiqiao, the Yantaï Port group and the Guinean transport and logistics company United Mining Supply (UMS) – has become Guinea’s leading bauxite exporter, with 42 million tons in 2018.
Under the general direction of Mr. Frédéric Bouzigues, SMB employs 9,000 people in the Boké region and has built two river terminals – Dapilon and Katougouma – attached to the port of Boké.
Registered with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) since September 2018, Boké is Guinea’s largest multi-purpose port in terms of volume of cargo handled (import & export), and also has the largest ship repair centre in West Africa.
While it has already invested nearly US$1,5 billion in its activities in the Boké region, the Consortium has also launched the Boffa-Boké Project, including the construction of a 135-kilometre railway line in a corridor extending from the Dapilon river terminal to the new Santou II and Houda mining areas, and the construction and operation of an alumina refinery in the Boké region. The total investment made by the Consortium for the entire Boffa-Boké Project is estimated at US$3 billion.
According to Mr. Sun Xiushun, the Singaporean CEO of the Consortium: “The Simandou Project will be crucial for Guinea’s future. This mega deposit is an opportunity in terms of employment and wealth creation for the whole country.
With the Transguinean railway, Guinea will now have a real lifeline linking four Guinean regions, accelerating administrative and economic decentralization and strengthening the country’s rail network.”
“With its successful experience in bauxite exploitation in Boké, the Consortium intends to replicate its economic and social model, focused on responsibility and sustainability, in the exploitation of Simandou I and II iron ore, explains Mr. Fadi Wazni, the Franco-Guinean Chairman of the SMB Board of Directors.
We are honored by the trust placed in us and I would like to especially thank the team who helped us prepare the project offer and who I has the privilege of leading. We are convinced that the SMB-Winning Consortium is the best partner to carry out the Simandou I and II Project alongside the Government, local authorities and the people of Guinea.”
“Today, China is the world’s leading industrial player and therefore the largest consumer of ore for primary processing,” Frédéric Bouzigues, the French General Manager of SMB, said. “It was strategic for Guinea to be able to integrate into this global value chain with the support of several international partners, in order to contribute in the medium term to a first local transformation.”
Founded in 2014, the SMB-Winning Consortium brings together four global partners in the extraction, production and transport of bauxite: Singapore’s Winning Shipping Ltd, a leading Asian shipowner; UMS, a transport and logistics company with over 20 years’ experience in Guinea; Shandong Weiqiao, a leading Chinese aluminium producer with 160,000 employees and annual revenues of US$45 billion; and the Yantaï Port group. The State of Guinea, partner and member of the consortium, is a 10% shareholder.
Since its inception, SMB-Winning has invested more than US$1,5 billion in its extractive activities in the Boké region.
African Eye Report
