Rio Tinto chief meets Guinean president

Mr Tom Albanese CEO of Rio Tinto visited Guinea from December 19 to 22 and met Mr Alpha Conde president of Guinea. At that meeting, Mr Albanese was able to offer his best wishes, and to underscore Rio Tinto's commitment to the economic development of Guinea and to the rapid development of the Simandou project.

Mr Xiong, chairman of Chalco the joint venture partner in Simandou with Rio Tinto alongside the IFC, was also to have attended the meeting but regrettably his journey from Beijing to Conakry was halted en route in northern Europe, as gathering snow storms and freezing conditions closed many airports.

Mr Tom Albanese said that ''Rio Tinto and Chalco are two of the world biggest mining and metal companies, and together we are utilizing our collective strength to bring the Simandou deposit into production. I am delighted to have seen first-hand the progress that our project team is making at the project site and the healthcare, training and recreation support they are providing to the local communities around Simandou. Guinea is entering a bright period in its history. We are proud to be able to play a part in the next stage of the country's development." His commitment to Alpha Conde was that Rio Tinto would build and operate Simandou to the same high standards as anywhere else, using global best practice, a strong community emphasis and focus on issues such as bio-diversity.”

Following the meeting Mr Albanese made visits to the Simandou Mountains to meet the leaders and people of the neighboring communities in the prefectures of Kerouane and Beyla, and to tour the Simandou project itself.

Following the trip, Mr Albanese said that "I am both proud and humbled by the welcome given to my team and the progress that has been made at so many levels at Simandou. It is our absolute ambition that Simandou will be a world class operation, and I was able to see first hand that we are making good on that promise environmentally, socially and technically. We are 100% dedicated to Simandou and to Guinea, and I look forward to my return in early 2011 with Mr Xiong, to continue to drive our commitment to social and economic delivery."

When completed, Simandou will be the largest private integrated iron ore mine and infrastructure project ever developed in Africa. At capacity the project will produce 95 million tonnes of ore per year. Today it employs more than 1,600 people, and at capacity it will employ 4,000. Rio Tinto is conducting a feasibility study on a railway of approximately 700 kilometres and a deep sea-port south of the capital, Conakry.

（souce from steelguru）