Setback for Guinea mine that threatens World Heritage chimp reserve

A major iron mining project in eastern Guinea may be at risk as its owner, the U.S. firm HPX, is reportedly running into trouble with its plans to ship ore through neighboring Liberia. HPX’s mining concession in Guinea has raised alarm among environmentalists, who say that if it reaches the production stage, its close proximity to Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve would endanger the resident chimpanzees.

HPX’s mining concession is located near Liberia’s border with Guinea. The shortest route for shipping ore extracted from it would be via a railway rehabilitated by the U.K.-Indian steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal as part of the 25-year agreement it signed with the Liberian government in 2005. Since 2011, ArcelorMittal has been the line’s primary user, shipping around 5 million metric tons of ore per year from its own iron mine in northern Liberia to the port city of Buchanan.

HPX and its founder, Canadian billionaire Robert Friedland, have been reportedly lobbying to block an amended contract that ArcelorMittal is fighting to push through Liberia’s legislature, which would tighten the firm’s grip on the railway. Under the revised agreement, ArcelorMittal would control day-to-day operations on the line and have the right to prevent other companies from interfering with its shipment schedule.

Fearing that ArcelorMittal could disrupt its own plans, Friedland and HPX have been engaged in a multiyear campaign to convince the Liberian government to allow it to have unfettered access to the railway.

But last month, the website Africa Intelligence reported that HPX was outmaneuvered by ArcelorMittal, which has secured Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s support for the firm’s amended contract. Boakai took office in January.

As a potential alternative to using the existing railway, in February HPX signed a letter of intent with the Liberian government promising to finance a multibillion-dollar “Liberty Corridor” along with South Africa’s Guma Group. Under the plan, HPX and Guma would build an entirely new railway from northern Liberia to a modern deepwater port on the coast.

The ceremony announcing the project, which would cost an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion, was attended by Boakai, Freidland, and Guma Group’s founder, South African billionaire Robert Gumede.

But according to Africa Intelligence, both the Guinean and Liberian governments doubt that HPX can secure the financing for the ambitious project, and Friedland’s influence is waning in both Conakry and Monrovia. Guinea’s ruling junta wants HPX to instead build a rail line that would link the Nimba mine to a separate iron mine in the country’s Simandou range, the outlet reported.

In a text message to Mongabay, Liberia’s minister of lands, mines and energy, Wilmot Paye, said it was incorrect to suggest that HPX would be prevented from using the existing Yekepa-Buchanan railway under ArcelorMittal’s new agreement.

“Liberia already has a policy that encourages multi-use” of the railway, he wrote.

But under ArcelorMittal’s revised contract, the company would be able to prevent any competitors from causing “unreasonable interference” with its use of the railway it rehabilitated. What constitutes such interference would be left up to the firm to decide on its own — putting HPX in a vulnerable position were it to rely on access to the railway for its own shipments.

HPX’s intense efforts to secure access to Liberia’s infrastructure speaks to how lucrative it expects its Guinean mine to be. Guinea’s iron ore deposits are among the purest in the world, making them attractive to a number of international mining giants, including U.K.-Australian firm Rio Tinto, which is gearing up to mine in Simandou. To cut down on the carbon emissions associated with steelmaking, China has vowed to stop importing lower-grade ore — meaning that Guinea is poised to become a major supplier of the country’s refineries.

But most of Guinea’s iron deposits are located in high conservation value areas, rich in biodiversity and unique habitats. UNESCO placed the nearby Mount Nimba Heritage Site on its “in danger” list in 1992. Mount Nimba is considered one of the most unique conservation sites in Africa. Along with at least 136 tool-using western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), there are more than 100 mammal species in the reserve, including African golden cats (Caracal aurata), pygmy hippos (Choeropsis liberiensis) and zebra duikers (Cephalophus zebra).

Before it can begin mining the Nimba range, HPX will need UNESCO’s permission. Conservationists say they don’t want to see that happen.

“Given the position of HPX’s permit, there are unavoidable direct and indirect impacts on chimpanzees living inside their mining permit and in Mount Nimba World Heritage Site,” said Genevieve Campbell, lead for the ARRC Task Force, a group of scientists that advises extractives companies on minimizing their impact on apes. “These impacts can’t be offsetted elsewhere given the uniqueness of the site and the lack of equivalent sites with similar biodiversity and habitats.”

Bronwyn Brown, HPX’s CEO, declined to offer comment on the firm’s troubles in Liberia when reached via email.

Campbell told Mongabay that no matter what HPX does to mitigate its impacts, the potential damage to Mount Nimba’s ecosystems is high enough that the project should be shelved entirely.

“It’s impossible to mine this area following international best practice standards,” she said.

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Banner image: A western chimpanzee in the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve. Image by Kathelijne Koops.

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