Liberia, Ivanhoe Atlantic sign $1.8 billion deal for railway

Liberia and Ivanhoe Atlantic Inc. have signed a $1.8 billion agreement that’ll allow the US mining company to rehabilitate and use the country’s railway infrastructure to transport iron ore from neighboring Guinea for export.

“This deal is a crucial step toward President Boakai’s objectives of developing Liberia’s multi-user rail policy and securing new international investment,” the US Embassy in Liberia said in a statement on its Facebook page.

Part of President Joseph Boakai’s infrastructure policy is for Liberia to transition to a system where more than one company can use the Guinea-Liberia corridor, with an independent operator. This will come into force when ArcelorMittal Liberia’s mineral development agreement expires in 2030.

The US Embassy didn’t provide further details on the accord, which was signed ahead of President Donald Trump’s five-state African summit from July 9 to 11 in Washington.

Ivanhoe Atlantic didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.

Access to the rail line will provide the company with the shortest export route from its Kon Kweni project in Guinea. The shovel-ready deposit will produce between 2 million and 5 million tons a year during the first phase, before ramping up to as much as 30 million tons at the second phase.

(By Festus Poquie)