The Simandou mine is a very large, high-grade iron-ore deposit in the southern highlands of Guinea. Running along the crest of the Simandou range in the Nzérékoré Region, the project holds an estimated 2.4 billion tonnes of ore grading 65 percent iron, making it one of the largest untapped iron-ore resources in the world.[2] Development was delayed for decades by ownership disputes, corruption allegations, and the need for a 622-kilometre railway and a deep-water port to reach the Atlantic coast.[3] Completing the mine, as well as the railway and port, cost $20 billion.[4] Commercial exports began in late 2025, with the first shipments going to China.[5]
Geology and reserves
Simandou is hosted in metamorphosed banded-iron formations (itabirites) that were later enriched to hematite and hematite–goethite ore. Two principal lenses, Pic de Fon and Ouéléba, lie about four kilometres apart at the southern end of the range. Each lens extends roughly 7.5 kilometres and is up to one kilometre wide.