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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 Simfer is committing GNF 44,5 billion to the construction and renovation of health, education and agri-food infrastructure in Beyla

November 10, 2023

Conakry, Guinea – Rio Tinto Simfer announced today the launch of 15 local development projects in the Beyla prefecture. The projects focus on the construction and renovation of health, education and agri-food infrastructures in the region. Rio Tinto Simfer will spend GNF 44,034,966,000 Guineans francs on these projects, which will directly benefit local communities both economically and socially.

There are a total of 15 infrastructure construction and renovation projects based on the needs expressed by communities and local authorities in four key scopes of actions.

Firstly, Rio Tinto’s funds will finance the construction and renovation of infrastructure essential for access to drinking water, health, education, empowerment and community well-being. These projects will affect thousands of residents in 12 villages bordering the mine. These are :

Renovation of the Beyla administrative block: to support the government in providing a safe and decent working environment for the project’s key stakeholders.
Construction of the Beyla abattoir and butchery complex: to provide the population of Beyla with high-quality, healthy meat, and to encourage Simfer’s catering companies and contractors to buy locally.
Construction and renovation of 7 elementary school in the communities of Beyla, Traorela, Mafindou, Banankoro, Moribadou and Foma: to support the government’s efforts to improve the education system and raise pupil’s academic standards.
Construction of a community information center: to enable communities to enquire about the realities of the project, accommodate community complaints, receive ongoing information on recruitment and other project activities, and ensure effective engagement between Simfer and the communities.
Construction of a learning center for women in Beyla: To facilitate women’s empowerment.
Construction of a literacy center in Beyla: To improve citizens’ reading, arithmetic and writing skills, and to teach them jobs in order to increase their competitiveness in the job market and promote business development.
The construction and renovation of two health centres in Moribadou and Foma: to support the government of Guinea in improving the health of communities.
The renovation of a youth center in Nionsomoridou: to facilitate the fulfilment of young people.
The construction of boreholes with standpipes in Beyla, Nionsomoridou, Banankoro, Mafindou and Moribadou: to supply communities with drinking water and prevent water-borne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, etc.

Fanta Keita, Manager in Rio Tinto Simfer’s Community and Social Performance team, states: “These 15 community projects are concrete ways of improving access to quality healthcare and education for the inhabitants of the Beyla prefecture. We are equally proud to contribute directly to their food security, to develop spaces of exchange and interaction with the communities and the Guinean administration in order to maintain the Social License needed to operate. These key initiatives are an integral part of the Simandou project. These 15 projects are supported by Rio Tinto who will contribute directly to them, and will be carried out by local partners, who will play a crucial part in improving the living conditions of their communities and supporting the economic growth of their region.”