Mauritania’s state miner SNIM signed an agreement in Paris on 2 November to carry iron ore on the national railway for Essar Capital Mauritius Limited, which the mines ministry called the first opening of the line to private operators. Essar plans to start mining its Askaf permit in Tiris Zemmour within six months, at 7.5 million tonnes a year, with about 2,000 jobs during construction, the ministry said. Glencore’s Sphere Minerals signed a transport deal for Askaf with SNIM in 2014, but the mine was never built. A second exporter would give SNIM fee income and shared track-maintenance costs, and lift Mauritania’s iron ore exports beyond SNIM’s own output.
Sources
- Agence Mauritanienne d’Information (AMI): https://ami.mr/fr/archives/305462
- Madar: https://fr.madar.mr/actualites/mauritanie/mauritania-snim-essar-agreement-iron-ore-transport-national-railway-askaf-paris-20261102
- Fastmarkets (2014): https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/glencore-finalises-mauritania-iron-ore-infrastructure-agreement/