elephant sized projects and more to come!, page-24

Add this to the potential project list.

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/african-iron-ore-project-suspended-2009-07-24

I like this part of the article.
"The Senegalese government, which owns the mine, is reported as having said that ArcelorMittal either commits to doing the project, or another company will be sourced to do it.

“We are open to the option of doing it with a partner but, for the time being, we cannot do it alone,” says the company source."


African iron-ore project suspended

By: Kelly Farthing
24th July 2009
Global steel company ArcelorMittal’s Falémé iron-ore project in the West African country of Senegal has been suspended, owing to the global economic downturn.

The project, which has been valued at $2,2-billion, was due to begin producing iron-ore in 2011 with full production capacity estimated at 25-million tons a year. 
The deposits are located in four locations in the Falémé region, comprising both haemetite and magnetite deposits.

ArcelorMittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal said in a report when announcing the inception of the plan, in 2007, that the 
project was an important step in the company’s strategy to establish West Africa as a mining hub for iron-ore supplies to its steel plants around the world.

Regardless, a company source from Senegal was quoted in a report by Reuters as saying that it was suspending the project for the time being because of the economic situation worldwide, but that it hoped to carry out the project as soon as the situation improved.

The Senegalese government, which owns the mine, is reported as having said that ArcelorMittal either commits to doing the project, or another company will be sourced to do it.

“We are open to the option of doing it with a partner but, for the time being, we cannot do it alone,” says the company source.

The mine, including the construction of a new deep-water port near Dakar and the development of about 750 km of rail infrastructure to link the mine with the port, would have created up to 10 000 new jobs for Senegalese workers.

In addition to suspending the Falémé iron-ore project, the company is delaying the launch of its planned iron-ore mine in Liberia.

Edited by: Shannon O’Donnell