Project Management Committee: inaugural meeting in Paris

In February, the Simandou partners convened in Paris for the inaugural Simandou Participants Project Management Committee involving all key stakeholders.

The monthly meetings have been designed as an opportunity for representatives from Rio Tinto, the Government of Guinea, Chalco and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to collectively review progress on the Simandou project in Guinea and ensure alignment of all parties with the development strategy.

The meeting also provides a forum for all partners to progress key strategic issues in relation to the project and paves a pathway to work together in the future.

The importance of the meeting was reflected by the attendance of senior representatives from each participant including His Excellency Mr Mohamed Lamine Fofana - Minister of Mines and Geology Government of Guinea, Mr Jianchuan Luo - president of Chalco, Mr Tom Butler - IFC Global Head of Mining, as well as Alan Davies - president International Operations Rio Tinto Iron Ore and various senior members of Iron Ore management.

The Rio Tinto project team provided the participants with an overview of the progress of the project, including an update on the preliminary engineering assessment due to be completed at the end of this month.

All parties agreed that this was an important milestone for the Simandou project and it is only through the constant communication and cooperation between all of the parties can this project be a success.

Notes to editors

About Simandou
Simandou is a world class iron-ore mining project operated by Rio Tinto that will include joint venture partners, the Government of Guinea, the Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of World Bank Group. The project is located in the southeast of Guinea and will comprise the mine, approximately 650 km of trans-Guinean railway, and a deep water port south of Conakry. First ore is expected to be delivered using the new railway and port in mid-2015. After a five year ramp up, the project will export up to 95 million tonnes per year.

About Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminum, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

Media relations, Guinea
Fatoumata Diaraye Bah
Mobile: +224 62 35 51 91

Carine Gracia
Mobile: +224 62 35 04 85

Website: www.riotintosimandou.com

Project management committee-Media information-27 feb 2012 [: 0 KB]