Billonaire investor close to deal on Guinea's Nimba iron ore site

Canadian billonaire mining investor Robert Friedland is on the verge of sealing an agreement to take over Nimba iron ore deposit in Guinea, according to reports.

Although a final agreement is yet t be reached, advanced talks are ongoing between,BHP group, Newmont and Areva, the owners of the iron mine; who are yet to succeeded at exploiting the site.

Guinea has some of the world’s richest iron ore deposits such as the Simandou mine.

But the heavy investments cost for the exploration of the mineral, including construction of railway lines as means for export, causes potential investers to develop cold feet.

Such has been the case of Rio Tinto group, Vale SA and the billionaire Beny Steinmetz, who failed to reach a conclusive deal with the government on the Simandou iron mine project.

Should the leader of the High Power Exploration (HPX) company ,ever succeed at reaching an agreement, exporting the mineral out of Guinea will be his most daunting challenge.

Guinea remains bedeviled by the high cost of building a railway to export minerals out of the country, while a much shorter route through Liberia is also an option.