RIO Tinto’s disgraceful Treason Mine just got a major boost. Via Acting general director of Rio Tinto in Guinea Samuel Gahig:
This weekend, we signed an investment agreement with our partner Winning Consortium Simandou. Through this agreement, Rio Tinto will provide $100m of interim funding to WCS to finance its construction programme, demonstrating our total commitment to the Simandou project – and to our partners. This marks another significant step forward for the development of the Simandou project infrastructure.
We are proud of the progress we have made together over the past six months: completing enabling works, constructing new camps, recruiting a skilled workforce and, more recently, starting permanent construction works. Through this agreement, Rio Tinto will provide $100m of interim funding to WCS to finance its construction programme, demonstrating our total commitment to the Simandou project – and to our partners.
Guinea recently entered the group of middle-income countries. It is a country with incredible potential: its human potential, agricultural potential thanks to its rainfall, and of course the potential that lies within the Simandou mountain range.
We are honoured to be part in this new chapter of Guinea’s history and we are determined to deliver the Simandou project for the people of Guinea.
All Australians should give themselves a pat on the back for helping lift Guinea out of poverty by trashing their own iron ore reserves.
Or, perhaps, RIO should do so, and Australians take pause. After all, the Treason Mine will arrive just in time for the great winddown of Chinese steel demand.
This will deliver iron ore at gutter-low iron ore prices for the rest of this decade.
As well as make it easier for China to invade Taiwan by diversifying its strategic commodity supply.
You go, RIO.
