British-Australian producer Rio Tinto has suspended production at its Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea after the death of a contractor working at the facility.
A thorough investigation will be launched following the incident at the SimFer mine on February 14, Rio Tinto said on February 15. No details about the cause of death were provided.
The first batch of the mine was delivered in early December. Rio Tinto plans to sell 5-6 million tons of ore from Simandou in 2026 and 60 million tons of ore per year at the mine by 2028.
The deposit of high-quality ore is divided into four blocks. Rio Tinto manages the third and fourth blocks.
Singapore–based winning firm of the Simandou Consortium (WCS) manages the first and second blocks and aims to achieve a capacity of 60-80 million tons per year.
WCS suspended operations after three workers died late last night. A year later, a total of 16 people died as a result of the development of the Simandou resource by the beginning of October 2025.
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