Australia-based producer Fortescue expects to ship the first iron ore from its 2mn t/yr Belinga mine in Gabon next week, ahead of the fellow west African Simandou project.
Fortescue loaded the first ore on to a train in June, with the shipment leaving the port of Liberville next week, according to Fortescue chief executive Dino Otranto. "The early stage mine development is progressing really well and we have a major exploration drilling campaign under way," he told investors at the firm's annual general meeting in Perth.
Fortescue plans to develop a much larger mine at Belinga to rival the up to 150mn t/yr Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, as demand for high-grade ores from Africa grows to support lower carbon steel production. Rio Tinto, which is partnering Chinese joint-venture Chalco Iron Ore to develop two of the four blocks at Simandou, signed a contract this month with German engineering firm Takraf to design and build the crushing, stockpiling and train loadout facility at the project.
There are also fewer infrastructure challenges for the first 2mn t/yr stage of Belinga, with the mine around 150km from the existing trans-Gabon railway that can deliver ore to Libreville. The Simandou partners must build a 650km railway and a deepwater port. But to reach the scale of Simandou, Fortescue will have to build additional rail and port infrastructure. The initial outlay to get to 2mn t/yr will be around $200mn over 2023-24.
Ivindo Iron — a joint venture 80pc owned by Fortescue and 20pc owned by Abu Dhabi investment fund Africa Transformation and Industrialisation Fund — is the operator and owns 90pc of Belinga, with the Gabon government having a free-carry interest of 10pc.
