The government of Guinea has approved a basic agreement on the US$14 billion development of Simandou blocks 1 and 2 by a Chinese-, Singaporean- and French-backed consortium, Reuters reported June 4, quoting mines minister Abdoulaye Magassouba.

"We will proceed to sign it in the coming days," the minister added without giving additional information, according to the newswire.

The consortium includes Societe Miniere de Boké, Winning Shipping, China Hongqiao Group Ltd.'s Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group Co. Ltd., Yantai Port Group Co. Ltd. and the Guinean government.

The consortium bagged the bid to develop the iron ore project, beating out Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. in November 2019.