WCS Halts Work at Guinea Iron Ore Mine After Fatal Accident

(Bloomberg) – Consortium Simandou, who developed half of a giant iron ore deposit in Guinea, suspended operations in the Kerouane mine after an accident where three foreign employees died.

“Emergency procedures were immediately activated and the medical teams in the local hospital have made all kinds of efforts.“ Operations were suspended to ensure that the security procedures were completely reviewed. ”

WCS has the rights of two mining concessions, which are part of the Simandou Demir Ore Project, while Rio Tinto PLC and China’s aluminum Corp. A joint venture directed by it holds the other two blocks. Both groups are planned to export the first shipment of steel production materials next month and increase their combined outputs to 120 million tons a year. This volume is equivalent to approximately 5% of total global iron ore production in 2024.

The Guinea government said it plans to use economic support provided by the mines to transform one of the poorest nations on the planet. WCS’s testimony did not say whether closing would affect the timeline of the first shipment.

According to the WCS statement, an investigation continues and operations will continue after the security conditions can be fully guaranteed. The suspension follows a temporary stop on Rio’s mining site in August after a worker dies.

WCS, the world’s largest steel manufacturer, the state Baowu Steel Group Corp Ltd. It is controlled by Chinese and Singapore companies, including. The Guinea state has a minority share in both consortium.

(In the third paragraph, it was updated with information about Simandou. An previous version of the story corrected the name of the company under the title)

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