*

13 worker deaths reported at Simandou since June 2023,

sources

and documents say

*

Some safety guidelines not implemented, according to

sources and

accident reports

*

Project prioritizes schedule over safety, some sources say

*

Guinea is investigating safety issues at the mine,

minister says

*

Chinese consortium says it has taken safety concerns

seriously

during construction

By Clara Denina

March 12 (Reuters) - A routine night shift ended in

tragedy for Alseny Camara.

The 32-year-old was working for a Chinese subcontractor

building a railway to reach Simandou - the world's largest new

iron mining complex, which is being developed by

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and its

partners in West Africa.

Camara was unloading 1.3-tonne-bags of coal ash when the

forklift he was operating hit a pillar and toppled over,

crushing him.

He was one of six local workers killed between June 2023 and

November 2024 in the construction of a port and a 670-kilometre

railway leading to the mines in remote rural Guinea, according

to internal reports compiled by company officials that

documented more than 40 undisclosed accidents, reviewed by

Reuters.

Six company sources provided Reuters with the identities of

a further six workers who were killed. None of the fatalities

have been reported publicly.

Rio Tinto on October 28, 2024 announced the death of another

worker at the port site.

The level of worker fatalities on the mine's rail and port

infrastructure - which is managed by Rio's Chinese partners,

Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) - is unusually high by Western

industry standards, according to a dozen experts interviewed by

Reuters, including mining executives and lawyers.

In 2023, there were 36 worker deaths worldwide in the mining

operations managed by 25 members of the International Council of

Mining and Metals (ICMM), an association that gathers data from

some of the largest companies in the industry - including Rio -

and aims to promote safety and sustainable development. The ICMM

declined to comment on the toll at Simandou.

Guinea's Mining Minister Bouna Sylla, asked by Reuters about

the level of fatalities at the project, said in early February

there was an ongoing government investigation into safety issues

at Simandou that will run for some weeks. He declined to provide

further information.

A Rio Tinto spokesperson, asked about Reuters' findings, did

not comment directly on the toll. "We extend our deepest

sympathies to the people, families and communities affected by

these tragic incidents," he said in an emailed statement, adding

that the company is: "working each and every day with our

partners...to share knowledge and expertise so safety is

continuously improved across Simandou - which is a uniquely

complex project."

A spokesperson for WCS said the consortium was "continuously

enhancing its safety protocols to ensure they meet international

standards."

SAFETY GUIDELINES NOT IMPLEMENTED

Rio announced in December 2023 it was bringing forward the

start of iron ore production at the long-delayed mine to the end

of 2025 from 2026 - an unusual move in an industry where the

scale and difficulty of projects more commonly leads to

postponements.

The company first took a stake in Simandou - the world's

richest untapped iron ore deposit - in 1997. But for years, its

development was delayed by legal wrangling over ownership, by

military coups in Guinea, and by the enormous scale of the

infrastructure required.

Then in 2022, following a coup the previous year, Rio's

Simfer consortium with China's Chalco Iron Ore Holdings formed a

joint venture with the new government. Chalco did not

immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rio owns a 53% stake in the Simfer consortium, which holds

the rights to half the vast Simandou concession. A separate

consortium led by WCS, holds the other half and assumed

responsibility for managing the construction of the railway and

port facilities, via 13 subcontractors.

At a London investor seminar on December 4, Rio's Chief

Technical Officer Mark Davies said that the company was meeting

or exceeding agreements to deliver production at Simandou on the

new, faster schedule.

"We're learning a huge amount from our Chinese partners,

especially in relation to speed, simplification, modularization

and fabrication," he said. "We're finding the quality of work

comparable to our other international suppliers."

However, investigations into at least nine of the accidents,

conducted jointly by WCS and Rio-Simfer, found that minimum

safety guidelines were not correctly implemented, the reports

reviewed by Reuters showed.

The report into Camara's death found that the subcontractor

managing the site, Shaanxi Construction Engineering Group

Corporation, hadn't assessed forklift risks and had neglected

equipment maintenance.

"The subcontractor...lacks preventative maintenance for

equipment, which failed to detect equipment defects," the report

stated, noting the vehicle had no mirror for reversing, had a

seat belt that was not adjustable, a damaged horn and no

collision warning device.

Shaanxi did not respond to requests for comment. The

investigation, concluded in August, also found that Camara, who

had only been working on the job for two months, did not apply

emergency procedures properly. Reuters was unable to reach his

family for comment.

Although a team of workers freed Camara within minutes of

the accident at around 10.30 pm, he then had to be transported

to the Mamou Provincial Hospital due to the lack of medical

facilities on site. He was not admitted to the hospital until

2.30 am, and he died there two-and-a-half hours later, the

report said.

One supervisor on the infrastructure project, who asked not

to be identified due to the sensitivity of the information, said

that due to the limited medical facilities at the camps and a

lack of ambulances it was common practice for injured workers to

be sent by car or truck to the nearest medical clinic, often

some distance away due to the remoteness of the sites.

Four company officials working in Guinea for Rio Tinto and

WCS, who also asked not to be named, described a lack of safety

measures and health facilities.

WCS and Rio did not respond to requests for comment about

specific incidents, or about the quality of the on-site medical

care.

A spokesperson for WCS said it was supporting the families

of the dead. "The Simandou project is an enormous and

challenging undertaking, and we have taken all safety and

compliance concerns seriously throughout its development," the

spokesperson added.

"INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS TO MEET"

Rio has a direct stake in the infrastructure for the mine.

Its Simfer consortium owns a 42.5% share of a joint venture

formed in 2022 to develop the rail and port infrastructure, the

Compagnie du TransGuinéen (CTG). WCS controls an equal

shareholding and the government of Guinea owns the remaining

15%.

Although Rio isn't directly responsible for managing the

construction, its Simfer consortium has so far committed $6.5

billion in funding - around half the total for the

infrastructure works.

Under the CTG joint venture agreement, Rio also has around

20 staff embedded in the infrastructure project, covering

functions including health and safety, environment, and

community relations, it said. Reuters was unable to review the

joint venture agreement.

"Because Rio Tinto has international standards to meet, we

had to help WCS," said one Rio employee, declining to be named

because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Secondments of this type between joint venture partners to

help transfer skills and capacity are not unusual, industry

experts said.

A spokesperson for Rio said the incidents occurred on the

WCS managed portion of the project. Leadership from WCS and

Simfer were meeting regularly to share learnings, discuss key

issues and potential solutions, he said.

Four WCS employees said the Chinese consortium and its

contractors had concealed evidence of some fatalities from Rio

Tinto-Simfer secondees. They did not provide any written

evidence to support their case and Reuters couldn't

independently confirm this.

WCS did not respond to a request for comment on this point.

PRIORITIZING SCHEDULE OVER SAFETY

As of April, a Simandou Project Scorecard produced by Rio

Tinto-Simfer to enable management to evaluate progress on the

project - seen by Reuters - showed the railway line was 15.5%

complete and the port 7% - suggesting that work needed to

accelerate to meet the new end-of-2025 production deadline

announced by Rio.

Reuters spoke to 15 sources - including current and ex-staff

at the site - who said the infrastructure project was

prioritizing budget and schedule to safety.

One worker, who asked not to be identified for fear of

retaliation, said that staff were not being given enough rest as

work continued around the clock. "Our situation is dangerous,"

he said.

Reuters reviewed a previously unreported draft assessment

dated November-December 2023 of compliance with standards set by

the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a branch of the

World Bank that is a recognized authority on industry safety, in

the wake of 6 worker fatalities. The assessment was undertaken

at the behest of WCS to determine if international safety

standards were being met.

The draft assessment - conducted by French firm Artelia for

WCS, according to the sources - cited poor health and safety

conditions at camps. It stated that first aid training was

extremely limited and the quality of medical facilities at the

main camps was variable.

"H&S (Health and Safety) performance is very poor and

controls on the ground often do not align with industry good

standards," read the draft report, reviewed by Reuters.

Artelia, Rio Tinto and WCS did not respond to requests for

comment on the draft assessment. Reuters could not determine if

the report was finalized.

Ten of the accident reports examined by Reuters show

families of the deceased and seriously injured signed

memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and waiver statements to say

WCS would not be liable for harm suffered. Reuters has not

reviewed any of the waivers or the MoUs.

In one case, the death of temporary worker Lasso Konate at a

mixing station in June 2023, the local manager and human

resources assistant for WCS's subcontractor "went to town to buy

rice, oil, onions, water and other food and funeral items," the

report said.

It added that, after the elders and villagers held a prayer

ceremony for the 25-year-old, Chinese company officials handed

over financial aid to family members.

Reuters has not seen details of any financial settlements

paid to deceased workers families. The news agency was unable to

reach Konate's family for comment. The subcontractor, Winning

Consortium International Engineering, did not respond to a

request for comment.

Three experts said these kinds of agreements were unusual by

industry standards, as mining companies do not typically require

families or victims to sign liability waivers following

industrial accidents in return for compensation.

Asked about the waivers, WCS said: "Our commitment to

supporting the families involves various forms of assistance,

including emotional support and logistical help, all while

respecting the families' privacy. Financial or material

compensation, where appropriate, is provided in line with local

customs."

In addition to the 13 worker fatalities, the internal

Simandou accident reports reviewed by Reuters showed that at

least five members of the local community were killed in traffic

accidents by vehicles from the works.

That includes four bystanders killed in April 2023 when the

brakes failed on a truck.