Fatal Incident at Rio Tinto’s SimFer Mine in Guinea

A contract worker died following an incident at Rio Tinto’s SimFer mine, which forms part of Guinea’s Simandou iron-ore project . The world’s largest producer of iron-ore announced the news on Sunday, but did not provide additional details about the incident. 

The death is the latest in a series of fatal incidents associated with the construction of the mines, port, and the 670-kilometre railway linking the remote mining region to Guinea’s coast. 

Following the accident on Saturday, operations at the SimFer mine site were suspended. Rio Tinto’s chief executive, Simon Trott, stated that he would travel to Guinea during the week to address the situation.

A Reuters review of internal documents in March revealed that at least 13 local workers died between November 2023 and late 2024 during construction of infrastructure, including one death reported by Rio Tinto. 

Since then, the company has confirmed two additional deaths, including the incident on Saturday. 

In October, the Winning Consortium Simandou, a co-developer of the project, reported that three foreign workers were killed in a separate site accident. 

DEATH TOLL MOUNTS TO AT LEAST 18 since construction of the railway and mines began. 

Simandou is predominantly a Chinese-backed venture: China Baowu Resources holds a controlling stake in the northern portion of the deposit, Blocks 1 and 2, through its majority ownership of the Winning Consortium Simandou. 

The southern half, Blocks 3 and 4, is managed jointly by Rio Tinto, Chinalco, and the government of Guinea—resulting in approximately 75% of the project being under Chinese influence, while Rio Tinto has a direct interest in the remaining 25%.