Guinea: First railway link commissions between Dapilon-Santou, milestone development for bauxite mining activities

The Franco-Guinean bauxite tycoon Fadi Wazni chaired  SMB-Winning Consortium has been building a railway track for more than 2 years to be used for the exploitation of its mining activities.

On 25th May 2021, the first rail link which connects the mining area of Santou to the new river port of Dapilon was carried out, as a curtain-raiser to the official commissioning of this line, announced for 16th June 2021.

The 125 km long traditional gauge railway which will be dedicated to the transport of bauxite from Santou (in the Kindia region in north-western Guinea) to the international market via the port of Dapilon, should be subsequently integrated into the Guinean rail network.

The construction works initiated in March 2019 and was carried out by the 18th Bureau and 14th Bureau subsidiaries of Chinese railway construction giant China State Railway Group Company, Ltd. SMB-Winning should also be in charge of the operation and management of this line.

The infrastructure, which includes bridges, two tunnels, six depots and five stations, among others, was financed by the SMB-Winning Consortium, which signed an agreement with the Guinean State for the extraction of minerals in the area and its operation.