Rio Tinto produces iron ore for steel, aluminium for cars and smart phones, copper for wind turbines, diamonds that set the standard for responsible sourcing, titanium for household products, and borates for crops that feed the world.
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In close and transparent collaboration with our partners, stakeholders and local communities, Rio Tinto will deliver on the promise of the Simandou project to international standards of operational health and safety, governance, social wellbeing, and environmental stewardship.
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Mining and processing, by its very nature, can have disruptive impacts on the environment, including on local communities. At the same time, mining also delivers significant economic and social benefits to communities, including employment, local business development, tax and royalty streams, as well as education and health programmes. Our goal is always to maximise these benefits and minimise any disruptive impacts as much as possible.
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The Simandou project is imminently due to become the world’s largest greenfield mining project and the largest ever undertaken on the African continent. This once-in-a-generation megaproject will not only place Guinea on the world stage as a top global producer of high-quality, low impurity iron ore, it will also set a new benchmark for large scale project development throughout the region.
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Rio Tinto and Enabel sign a memorandum of understanding to support the economic development of Guinea

February 5, 2024

Conakry, Republic of Guinea – Rio Tinto Guinea and the Belgian development agency Enabel officially signed a memorandum of understanding last week in Conakry. The agreement aims to support their respective initiatives for economic development and the reduction of socio-economic inequalities in Guinea.

Under this agreement, Rio Tinto Guinea and Enabel commit to collaborate on projects of common interest to stimulate economic growth in Guinea, particularly in the area between the towns of Kindia and Mamou. The partners’ objective is to maximize the social and environmental impact of their development programs throughout the region.

To this end, Rio Tinto Guinea and Enabel have identified five priority areas of collaboration:

Design and implementation of projects related to capacity building, skills development, innovation, entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on gender, professional integration, structuring of promising sectors, and local economic development.
Identification and implementation of common interest synergies for the valorization of local content.
Data collection and conducting joint studies on promising sectors, agro-industries, tourism, ecology, waste management, and services.
Achievement of quick and high-impact results through the implementation of synergies, such as the completion of small-scale economic infrastructures.
Identification of co-financing for scaling up projects of common interest.

François KIEFFER, Resident Representative of Enabel in Guinea, states: “Within the framework of its projects in Guinea, implemented with funding from Belgium and the European Union, Enabel works to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth along the Conakry-Kindia-Mamou axis. In this context, the partnership with the private sector, established under the triple-win principle (for the end beneficiaries, the company, and Enabel), is a crucial lever of action. The agreement with Rio Tinto represents a major opportunity to fully exploit the economic potential of the targeted areas, thereby amplifying the impact of our ongoing initiatives.”

Samuel GAHIGI, General Manager of Rio Tinto in Guinea, concludes: “The Simandou Project has incredible transformative potential for the Guinean economy. We are proud to partner with Enabel, an agency with which we can create multiple synergies to enhance the effectiveness of our development programs. This partnership will allow us to catalyze the remarkable work already carried out by our Regional Economic Development (RED) teams on the ground, making a significant contribution to the social and economic prosperity of Guinean communities in the medium and long term.”