招商项目：国际金融公司拟退出几内亚西芒杜铁矿项目

据英国路透社10月10日报道，据英国力拓集团透露的消息，世界银行旗下的国际金融公司（The International Finance Corporation）计划出售其在几内亚西芒杜铁矿项目SIMFER公司里持有的4.6%的股权。

几内亚西芒杜铁矿（Simandou）是目前世界上尚未开采的储量最大、品质最高的世界级大铁矿。承担该项目开采的企业是SIMFER公司，该公司目前有4个股东：英国力拓、中国铝业、几内亚政府、国际金融公司。

其中，国际金融公司在SIMFER持有4.6%的股权。

几内亚地矿部一名高官向记者表示，他并未听说过此事。

驻几内亚使馆经商处

2016年10月11日

Mining giant Rio Tinto said on Monday that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a partner in its $20 billion Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, is selling its 4.6 percent stake.

The exit of IFC, an arm of the World Bank, is the latest setback for the project to develop the world's biggest untapped iron ore reserves. In July, Rio Tinto's new Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques indicated the project had been shelved temporarily due to a sustained slump in prices.

"We confirm that the IFC has exercised a put option, which it has held since 2006, to require Rio Tinto and Chinalco to buy their stake in Simfer," Rio Tinto said in an emailed statement, referring to the joint venture.

Rio has a 46.6 percent stake in the project; China's Chinalco has 41.3 percent and the Guinea government has 7.5 percent.

A senior official at Guinea's mines ministry said he was not aware of the decision.

The West African country is counting on the project to spur economic growth after Guinea was hit by a crippling Ebola epidemic that officially ended in June.

When fully operational, Simandou has the potential to double Guinea’s GDP, the project partners have said, while China, the world's largest iron ore consumer provides an obvious market.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Additional reporting by Saliou Samb in Conakry; Editing by Susan Fenton)