GUINEA MINING OUTLOOKAN OVERVIEW OF THE MININGSECTEUR AND OPPORTUNITIESCONTENTS
1_ GENERAL OVERVIEW OF GUINEA.
2_ GEOGRAPHIC DATA.
3_ ECONOMY.
4_ ROLE OF MINING IN THE ECONOMY.
5_ SUMMARY OF THE MINING SECTOR.
6_ THE KEY TO UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL.
7_ KEY COMMODITIES: PRODUCTION AND RESERVES.
8_ BAUXITE PRODUCTION.
9_ GOLD PRODUCTION.
10_ IRON ORE.
11_ DIAMONDS PRODUCTION.
12_ REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT.
13_ SOGUIPAMI.
14_ SOGUIPAMI WEBSITE.

MAP

1. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF GUINEA••••••••••

General data:
Official name: Républic of Guinea
Not to be confused with : Guinea Bissau , Equatorial Guinea
Papua New Guinea.
Government type : Secular Republic
Head of State : Pr Alpha Condé (first elected in 2010)
Capital: Conakry
Main cities : Kindia , Labe, Kankan, Nzérékoré
Official Langage: French
Most spoken National Languages: Pular,Mandingo and Sosso
Currency : Guinea Franc (GNF)
National Day: October 2nd (1958)

2. GEOGRAPHIC DATA
• Location: West Africa,• Borders: Guinea -Bissau, Senegal, Mali , Ivory
Coast , Liberia ,Sierra Leone, Atlantic Ocean (seemap )• Area: 245,857 km2• Landscape: According to specific regions , it has
Mountains, Plateaus and Plains.
• Climate: Tropical, with a mix of two seasons: rainyseason and Dry season ( 6 months each).

GEOGRAPHIC DATA (2nd part)• Hydrography: «Guinea is called the Water Tower» ofWest Africa : West Africa biggest rivers have theirsource here: the Niger , Senegal, Gambia.
• Special geographic features: Guinea has four naturalregions (Lower Guinea, Middle Guinea,Upper Guineaand Forest Guinea)• Population: 12.6 million inhabitants. Rural populationaccount for 64.1 % , the population Density: 55 Persons
per km², population annual growth : 3.1% and life
expectancy: 55 years. Majority of the population is lessthan 18 years old.

3. ECONOMY•
••
•
••
•
•

Main activities:
Agriculture (80% of the population) , livestock, fisheries .
Main aagricultural products: cereals, coffee, cocoa, banana,pineapple.
Important mineral resources :Bauxite (30 % of world proven reserves), iron, gold, diamonds,uranium, as well as many metals and ores.
Important forest resources : timber
Mining is the main export products contributing about 25 % of GDP
and 80 % of revenue export.
Industry: mining, food industry, packaging and transformation
Units.
Energy: large hydropower potential

4. THE ROLE OF MINING IN THE
ECONOMY• According to the World Bank, mining is responsible foraround 80 per cent of exports, around 25 per cent ofgovernment revenues, and the employment of around
10,000 people.
• Mining represents around 25 per cent of Guinea’s GDPand generates around 80 per cent of foreign export
earnings.
• FDI in Guinea is largely driven by the mining sector.
• State revenue from mining currently equals around 20
per cent of government revenue .
• Its significance to Guinea’s overall economic condition
cannot be overstated.

5. SUMMARY OF THE MINING SECTOR
•

•
•

•
•
•

Guinea has some of the world’s largest high-grade bauxite and iron ore reserves, but has been
largely unable to benefit from its mineral resources, due to in large part by the lack ofinfrastructure. Guinea holds in excess of a quarter of global bauxite reserves and has large
quantities of high-grade iron ore reserves, with most reserves exceeding 60 percent grade.
These deposits are largely untapped and thus present significant opportunity to mining companies.
Guinea is expected to become the world’s fourth-largest bauxite producer by 2017.
Similar to most of the other West African nations, Guinea faces serious infrastructure challenges
with a transport network insufficient to meet even the current requirements. The country’s
electricity sector is also severely under-developed and presents an acute challenge to the powerintensive mining sector.
However, this creates substantial opportunities for investment in infrastructure, transport andelectricity networks.
Over the past five years, Guinea has received investment of about US2.5billion, which is relatively
weak compared to its potentials.
Despite Guinea’s high-quality mineral resources, numerous international firms have taken a waitand-see approach due to the depressed worldwide commodity prices and the outbreak of Ebola in
the country. However, following the successful fight against the deadly virus, there is growinginterest from international mining firms, and the mining sector is set to experience high growth incoming years as further events and infrastructure challenges are overcome.

6. THE KEY TO UNLOCK THE
POTENTIAL
Infrastructure development:
One of the primary inhibitors to economic
development in Guinea is the lack of infrastructure,
while the existing infrastructure is of poor qualityand desperately requires maintenance. Problem
areas include transport network, electricity supply,and information and communications technology.
The railway system is outdated , and is largely
incapable of supporting Guinea’s mining andindustrial product exports.

7. Key commodities: Production andreserves• Guinea is among the largest producers of bauxite
in the world and is home to the world’s largest
reserve deposit.
• The country also has one of the largest untappediron ore deposits in the world.
• Guinea has the proven reserves to be one of the
top African Gold producers.
• Guinea mineral resources also include cement,salt, diamonds, graphite, iron ore, limestone,
manganese, nickel and uranium.

8. BAUXITE PRODUCTION• Guinea was the world’s sixth largest bauxite producer in2014 and holds about 30 percent of the world’s reserves at
7.4 billion tons, more than any other country.
• Guinea produced 21 million tons of bauxite in 2014 andaccording to Business Monitor International (BMI), Guinea’sbauxite production is expected to reach 40.7 million tons in
2017, making Guinea the fourth-largest bauxite miner
globally.
• The Guinean government is more optimistic. In a March2013 statement, President Alpha Conde’s office forecast
annual bauxite output reaching 61 million tons by 2016-17,
and that of alumina between 16 million and 20 million tons.

9. GOLD PRODUCTION• Gold production Guinea has a number of goldmines and projects located in its northeasternregion.
• Gold is becoming an important commodity in
Guinea as international exploration funding tothe country is increasing significantly.
• Guinea has two main gold producers, Societe:
Miniere de Dinguiraye (SMD) and Societe Ashanti
de Guinee (SAG).
• Guinea produced about 17 tons of Gold in 2014in spite of advent of the Ebola virus10. IRON ORE• Guinea is home to one of the largest untapped iron ore deposits in theworld.
• The Simandou project is set to become the largest integrated iron ore
mine and infrastructure venture of its kind in Africa.
• Rio Tinto owns the controlling stake of the southern concession ofSimandou.
• The mining company said its a US20billion project, which includes a 670
km Trans-Guinean railway and a new deep-water port south of Conakry,
that would totally transform Guinea.
• Rio Tinto estimate that the mine could produce 95 million tons once itreaches its full capacity.
• Rio Tinto puts the potential yield of the site at 2.4 billion tons of highgrade iron ore (about 65%).
• Development of the northern part of Simandou has been stopped by thegovernment. According to Vale, the production target for the project was
50-70 million tons per annum

11. DIAMONDS PRODUCTION• According to the Kimberley Process Certification
Scheme, Guinea produced 266,800 carats of diamondsin 2012, making it the 13th largest producer in thesample. This is some way off the stellar years theindustry had in 2007 and 2008, when production
reached 1,018,722 and 3,098,490 carats, respectively.
• In 2008, Guinea ranked eighth in the world in terms oftotal carats produced.
• According to the USGS, Guinea’s resource potential isestimated at 40 million carats, while the production
capacity lies within the range of 480,000 to 720,000
carats per year

12. Regulatory environment (1)• The new mining code of 2013 is designed to encourage companies
to process raw materials inside the sovereign’s borders, rather thanjust shipping the ore out. The state’s stake in the projects is said toshrink as the portion of value added inside the country’s borders
increases. Under the new code, a shareholders’ agreement will
identify decisions that cannot be adopted without priorconsultation with the Guinean state.
The new mining code offers three types of mining titles.
• Prospecting permits
Prospecting permits cannot be transferred, sold, or used as collateral.
Also, any direct or indirect change in the control of the company
owning a mining title should be submitted to the Minister of Mines forapproval. Moreover, any acquisition of 5 percent or more of the shareof the company should be submitted to the Minister of Mines forapproval

Regulatory environment (2)• Exploitation permit
Exploitation permits can be transferred, sold, orused as collateral. Also, any direct or indirectchange in the control of the company owning a
mining title should be submitted to the minister ofmines for approval. Moreover, any acquisition of 5
percent or more of the company’s share should besubmitted to the ministry of mines for approval.
Under the new mining code, an industrial
exploitation or operating permit will be granted for
15 years

Regulatory environment (3)• Mining concessions
Mining concessions can be transferred, sold or used as collateral. Also,
any direct or indirect change in the control of the company owning a
mining title should be submitted to the Minister of Mines for approval.
Moreover, any acquisition of 5 percent or more of the share of thecompany should be submitted to the Minister of Mines for approval.
This approval is materialized by an executive order for mining
concessions. A mining concession entitles its holder the exclusive rightto conduct any work of field exploitation of mineral substances forwhich the license is issued within its perimeter, without depth
limitations. It is granted for large ore deposits that involve importantinvestments and scope of infrastructure as defined by the feasibility
study. A mining concession is granted for 25 years and can be renewed
for 10-year periods

13. SOGUIPAMI• What is SOGUIPAMI?
• SOGUIPAMI was created in 2011 as a national
mining company to manage the state’s shares inmining projects and enter into joint-ventures withprivate firms. SOGUIPAMI is 100% state-owned
and play a critical mining sector governance. Itsrole is to facilitate foreign (FDI)investors insuccessfully implementing their projects. Its legal
and management structure was set up, with thesupport of the World Bank Mining Sector
Governance Project.

14. SOGUIPAMI WEBSITEIf you are a potential investor interested in themining sector or want to found out about a listingof mining project opportunities in Guinea, you cancontact SOGUIPAMI through its website atwww.soguipami-gn.com
Your questions should be promptly answered in atimely manner.
We have also our country business promoting
office here ｃａｌｌｅｄ ＡＰＩＰ ｒｅａｄｙ to hand out
information packet

Thank you very much