Arcelor Mittal - the world`s largest steel producer - today announced the signing of various deals with the Government of Senegal to develop iron ore mining in the Faleme region.

The binding agreements for an integrated mining project, worth an estimated US$2.2 billion, will involve the building of a mine, a new port and the development of 750 km of rail infrastructure to link the two.

Construction at mine area, which is believed to contain 750 Mt of haemetite and magnetite ore in four separate locations, is expected to begin in 2011.

"The project will be developed in phases to achieve annual production capacity of between 15-25 Mt/y at peak operations," said the statement.

Arcelor will also consider "selective investments" in downstream steel facilities, it added.

Commenting on the news, Arcelor president and chief executive Lakshmi Mittal said: "Once completed, the Faleme project will prove to be an important and competitive source of iron ore supplies for our European plants.

"This project is an important step in our strategy of creating West Africa as a mining hub for iron ore supplies to our steel plants around the world.

"We are confident Senegal will prove to be a strategic location to extend our existing footprint in the promising West African markets."

Source: Mining Journal

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