On February 13, 2023, the Guinean Department of Mines and Geology deployed a mission to control and monitor ongoing mining projects in the country. This mission, led by the Service National de Coordination des Projets Miniers (SNCPM), will assess the progress of mining projects and ensure compliance with mining conventions and the mining code.

In Guinea, several mining projects are under development, but most are outside of State control. To put an end to this state of affairs, the Guinean State will now monitor and evaluate all mining projects through the monitoring body of the Ministry of Mines and Geology. This body will visit all concerned mining companies by March 31, 2023.

In a statement post on its Facebook page, the Ministry of Mines and Geology asks the companies concerned to prepare documents on: the detailed timetable of the work with related budget, the disbursement plan for the year 2023, the situation of the work carried out to date, the situation of local and expatriate staff and all other useful information pertaining to project development.

This monitoring and control mission comes at a time when some mining projects are at a standstill. This is particularly true of the gigantic Simandou iron ore mine project, which is due to resume work in March 2023 after several months of stoppage following a disagreement between the Guinean State and its partners Simfer, a subsidiary of Rio-Tinto, and Winning Consortium Simandou.