By Alexis Flynn
LONDON--An agreement to unlock tens of billions of dollars in
investment in one of Africa's poorest nations is only weeks away,
the head of the company spear-heading the project said Friday.
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Sam Walsh said in a speech in
Washington that he expects a long-awaited pact between Guinea and a
consortium led by the Anglo-Australian mining company to be signed
later this month, according to a draft copy seen by The Wall Street
Journal.
For months, Rio Tinto and its partners in the Simandou iron-ore
project--Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., or Chalco, and the
International Finance Corp., the private-sector arm of the World
Bank--have been huddled in talks with the Guinean government over
how to finance and execute the giant rail and port development
needed to bring the mine's bounty to market.
"This has taken some time to bring to fruition, and I think this
signing will inject the project with renewed momentum," Mr. Walsh
said.
Simandou has had a fraught history since Rio Tinto secured
exploration rights in 1997. Already stymied by the lack of rail and
port infrastructure, plans to turn Simandou into a working mine
have been further complicated by political upheavals,
commodity-price volatility and contractual wrangling.
However, concluding a long-awaited financing deal could finally
push the mine into production, bringing in foreign investment and
creating jobs.
"The infrastructure that brings Guinea's natural resource wealth
to global markets can do so much more for the country," Mr. Walsh
said, pointing out that once Simandou is fully operational, it will
contribute an estimated $7.6 billion to the Guinean economy each
year, dwarfing the amount of aid payments the country receives.
-Write to Alexis Flynn at alexis.flynn@wsj.com
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