In the middle of the Sahara Desert, Chinese workers have been braving the intense Algerian heat as they build a 575km (357-mile) rail line connecting one of the world's largest iron ore mines to the national rail network. Workers of the state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) have begun digging the rocky, dusty route between the Gara Djebilet iron ore mine in Algeria's southwest province of Tindouf and Bechar at its border with Morocco, in preparation for laying track. It is to
Rio Tinto has been solely funding preparatory work at the blocks it holds at Simandou, one of the world's largest untapped iron ore deposits, as its Chinese partners are yet to make their funds available, two sources close to the matter said. The Anglo-Australian miner owns two of four Simandou mining blocks as part of its Simfer joint venture with China's Chalco Iron Ore Holdings (CIOH) and the government of Guinea, where the mine is located. It has so far spent more than $500 million on developing the project that should have been split with CIOH, due to a delay in the Chinese consortium getting state approval on the financing, the sources said.