About
SimFer S.A. is the joint venture holding the mining concession for Simandou Blocks 3 and 4 — the southern portion of the world's largest known untapped high-grade iron ore deposit. SimFer is 85% owned by SimFer Jersey Limited (a joint venture between Rio Tinto, 53%, and Chalco Iron Ore Holdings/CIOH, 47% — a Chinalco-led consortium of leading Chinese state-owned enterprises including Chinalco 75%, Baowu 20%, CRCC 2.5%, and CHEC 2.5%) with the remaining 15% held by the Government of Guinea as a free-carried interest. Rio Tinto is the majority shareholder and managing partner. Simandou Blocks 3 and 4 contain an estimated 1.5 billion tonnes of ore reserves grading approximately 65% iron — among the highest-grade iron ore in the world — supporting a mine life of approximately 26 years. SimFer and Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS, operators of Blocks 1 & 2) co-funded and are co-developing the $20 billion Simandou integrated mine-rail-port system together through the Compagnie du TransGuinéen (CTG) — a 622-kilometre heavy-haul railway and deep-water port at Morebaya (Forécariah Prefecture). The first shipment of iron ore from the Simandou project left Guinea in December 2025, marking the beginning of commercial exports after decades of development. SimFer expects to produce 5–10 million tonnes of ore in 2026, ramping up over 30 months to 60 million tonnes per year at full capacity. The Simandou project is the largest integrated mining and infrastructure project in African history.
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