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China is planning to break its dependency on Australia and Brazil for iron ore. Africa is the key
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- China has a number of iron ore projects in the works in Africa as part of its ‘foundation plan’ to de-risk its supply of the mineral
- For now, the country relies heavily on Australia and Brazil, which supply the vast majority of the world’s iron ore.
Sierra Leone may be a small country on Africa’s Atlantic coast, but it is part of China’s big ambitions to break its dependency on Australia and Brazil for its iron ore.More than 80 per cent of China’s iron ore comes from Australia and Brazil but Beijing wants to de-risk that supply. And the West African nation, along with other countries including Guinea, Liberia, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville, are the key to making that happen.In the northern province of Sierra Leone, a 12 million tonne iron ore processing plant is being built – at a cost of US$230 million – at the Tonkolili iron ore mine by Leone Rock Metal Group, a subsidiary of Chinese mining and metals company China Kingho Energy Group. The mine has an estimated13.7billiontonnes of iron ore.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Guinea, after 27 years of false starts, Chinese investors together with British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, are on track to make their first shipment from the Simandou iron ore mine next year. Simandou is the world’s largest-known undeveloped reserve of high-grade iron ore.This is after Guinea’s parliament, the National Transitional Council, voted to approve laws that ratified the US$20 billion deal which, as well as the iron ore extraction, will see the development of a railway and port. Chinese state-owned entities, including steelmaker Baowu Group, have also agreed to invest in the massive project, which has an annual production capacity of 120 million tonnes.
Chinese companies are also investing in the Mbalam-Nabeba project, which will develop large-scale iron ore deposits that straddle Cameroon and neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville in central-west Africa.
Plus, in Algeria, a consortium of Chinese companies are investing in the Gara Djebilet iron ore mine located in the Tindouf province of western Algeria, while in Liberia, Baowu shipped its first cargo of iron from its flagship Bomi project in December.
These are just some of the mining projects in Africa which observers say form part of China’s iron ore “foundation plan”, which aims to address the vulnerability of its reliance on Australia and Brazil for the resource.
- China has a number of iron ore projects in the works in Africa as part of its ‘foundation plan’ to de-risk its supply of the mineral
- For now, the country relies heavily on Australia and Brazil, which supply the vast majority of the world’s iron ore.
- Sierra Leone may be a small country on Africa’s Atlantic coast, but it is part of China’s big ambitions to break its dependency on Australia and Brazil for its iron ore.More than 80 per cent of China’s iron ore comes from Australia and Brazil but Beijing wants to de-risk that supply. And the West African nation, along with other countries including Guinea, Liberia, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville, are the key to making that happen.
In the northern province of Sierra Leone, a 12 million tonne iron ore processing plant is being built – at a cost of US$230 million – at the Tonkolili iron ore mine by Leone Rock Metal Group, a subsidiary of Chinese mining and metals company China Kingho Energy Group. The mine has an estimated13.7billiontonnes of iron ore.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Guinea, after 27 years of false starts, Chinese investors together with British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, are on track to make their first shipment from the Simandou iron ore mine next year. Simandou is the world’s largest-known undeveloped reserve of high-grade iron ore.This is after Guinea’s parliament, the National Transitional Council, voted to approve laws that ratified the US$20 billion deal which, as well as the iron ore extraction, will see the development of a railway and port. Chinese state-owned entities, including steelmaker Baowu Group, have also agreed to invest in the massive project, which has an annual production capacity of 120 million tonnes.
Chinese companies are also investing in the Mbalam-Nabeba project, which will develop large-scale iron ore deposits that straddle Cameroon and neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville in central-west Africa.
Plus, in Algeria, a consortium of Chinese companies are investing in the Gara Djebilet iron ore mine located in the Tindouf province of western Algeria, while in Liberia, Baowu shipped its first cargo of iron from its flagship Bomi project in December.
These are just some of the mining projects in Africa which observers say form part of China’s iron ore “foundation plan”, which aims to address the vulnerability of its reliance on Australia and Brazil for the resource.
Source: scmp.com
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