Accidents at giant Simandou iron ore project kill more than a dozen workers, prompting inquiry

…[Alseny Camara, 32-year-old] was one of six local workers killed between June 2023 and November 2024 in the construction of a port and a 670-kilometre railway leading to the mines in remote rural Guinea, according to internal reports compiled by company officials that documented more than 40 undisclosed accidents, reviewed by Reuters.

Six company sources provided Reuters with the identities of a further six workers who were killed. None of the fatalities have been reported publicly.

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The level of worker fatalities on the mine's rail and port infrastructure – which is managed by Rio's Chinese partners, Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) – is unusually high by Western industry standards, according to a dozen experts interviewed by Reuters, including mining executives and lawyers.

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Guinea's Mining Minister Bouna Sylla, asked by Reuters about the level of fatalities at the project, said in early February there was an ongoing government investigation into safety issues at Simandou that will run for some weeks. He declined to provide further information.

A Rio Tinto spokesperson, asked about Reuters' findings, did not comment directly on the toll. [...]

A spokesperson for WCS said the consortium was "continuously enhancing its safety protocols to ensure they meet international standards."

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in 2022, following a coup the previous year, Rio's Simfer consortium with China's Chalco Iron Ore Holdings formed a joint venture with the new government. [...] Rio owns a 53% stake in the Simfer consortium, which holds the rights to half the vast Simandou concession. A separate consortium led by WCS, holds the other half and assumed responsibility for managing the construction of the railway and port facilities, via 13 subcontractors.

[I]nvestigations into at least nine of the accidents, conducted jointly by WCS and Rio-Simfer, found that minimum safety guidelines were not correctly implemented [...]

The report into Camara's death found that the subcontractor managing the site, Shaanxi Construction Engineering Group Corporation, hadn't assessed forklift risks and had neglected equipment maintenance. [...] Shaanxi did not respond to requests for comment.

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Four company officials working in Guinea for Rio Tinto and WCS, who also asked not to be named, described a lack of safety measures and health facilities.

WCS and Rio did not respond to requests for comment about specific incidents, or about the quality of the on-site medical care.

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Reuters reviewed a previously unreported draft assessment dated November-December 2023 of compliance with standards set by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) [...] in the wake of 6 worker fatalities. [...]

The draft assessment - conducted by French firm Artelia for WCS, [...] cited poor health and safety conditions at camps. It stated that first aid training was extremely limited and the quality of medical facilities at the main camps was variable.

Ten of the accident reports examined by Reuters show families of the deceased and seriously injured signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and waiver statements to say WCS would not be liable for harm suffered. Reuters has not reviewed any of the waivers or the MoUs.

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In addition to the 13 worker fatalities, the internal Simandou accident reports reviewed by Reuters showed that at least five members of the local community were killed in traffic accidents by vehicles from the works.

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