China looks to West Africa for iron ore supplies

Chinese firms have made major investments in mining projects in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which have extensive high-quality reserves

The move could help Beijing diversify supplies and reduce its current reliance on Australia for iron ore

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Leone Rock Metal Group has launched a project to upgrade the Pepel rail link and port in Sierra Leone. Photo: Handout

Published: 6:00am, 29 Apr 2023Updated: 7:16am, 29 Apr 2023

China is looking to West Africa as a source of iron ore as it seeks to diversify supplies away from Australia, its current main supplier.

Chinese companies are investing heavily in projects to develop mines and infrastructure in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia – which have large reserves of iron ore and other minerals, such as gold and diamonds.

Wu Peng, the director general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s department of African affairs, recently visited Sierra Leone and Guinea to meet government officials.

In Sierra Leone, Chinese firm Leone Rock Metal Group has broken ground on a 12 million tonne iron ore processing plant through its local subsidiary Kingho Mining Company.

The Chinese firm will invest US$230 million to build a beneficiation or value addition plant for the second phase of its expansion strategy at the Tonkolili mine, which has an estimated 13.7 billion tonnes of iron ore.

Remote-controlled stackers and reclaimers are seen moving iron ore to rail cars at Rio Tinto’s Port Dampier operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region in March 2010. China is trying to distance itself from Australian ore. File photo: AFP

The company is also planning to upgrade and reconstruct the Pepel railway & port 180km (112 miles) away, which is used for shipping bulk iron ore, at a cost of US$153 million – after a 2021 lease agreement gave it the right to operate the facility.