Arrow Minerals Ltd (ASX:AMD) has started a program of community engagement aimed at increasing awareness of the exploration process planned for the Simandou North Iron Project in Guinea.
The ongoing program will also provide a direct conduit for open and transparent dialogue between the company and the communities in which it operates.
This engagement is aimed at all levels of the communities in which Arrow operates, from formal government organisations to farming villages within the 10 districts of the Rural Commune of Komodou.
Meetings will be held at all levels within the community from prefecture through to local villages and will begin before drill testing of high-priority, near-surface targets with potential hematite enrichment, which is planned to start in the coming months.
“Foundation of understanding”
Arrow managing director Hugh Bresser said, “Our team in Guinea has been actively building strong relationships with our local communities and it is very important to us as a company to have direct consultation with our neighbours and stakeholders.
"Our early engagement is setting foundation of understanding between the company and our local communities as we prepare to mobilise the drill rigs and embark on our first round of drilling.”
Meetings held to date have been well attended by the local community members throughout the Simandou North Iron Project area.
Visible and vocal support
The company is encouraged by the visible and vocal support received for the project and AMD’s planned activities.
Participants have examined mechanisms by which Arrow can minimise the impact of the exploration program on the normal business and agricultural endeavours of the communities.
Additionally, opportunities for community involvement through direct and indirect economic means have been examined.
Arrow expects to start its maiden drilling program in the coming months at the 33.3%-owned Simandou North Project.
This program will contribute towards the company earning rights to a 60.5% controlling interest in the project.
Map showing distribution of the Simandou Range stratigraphy, including known iron deposits, extending north through Simfer (Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO)) Blocks 3 & 4, WSC Blocks 1 & 2, into Arrow’s Simandou North Iron Project area (Datum WGS84-29N).
About Simandou North
Simandou North Iron Project is at the northern end of the Simandou Range and forms an extension of the stratigraphy that hosts one of the world's largest undeveloped high-grade iron deposits.
These include WCS’s Block 1 & 2 with a reported measured, indicated and inferred resource of 1.8 billion tonnes at 65.4% iron and Rio Tinto Simfer’s Simandou Project Block 3 & 4 with a total measured, indicated and inferred resource of 2 billion tonnes grading 65.5% iron.
Arrow aims to systematically advance the Simandou North Iron Project over the coming months to identify areas of high-grade iron within the project area and realise the potential value released through the major infrastructural upgrades, rail and port, underway in the region.
Infrastructure upgrades
The government of Guinea, Simfer and WCS created La Compagnie du TransGuineen (CTG), a JV company to co-develop the mega-project requiring construction of the 670-kilometre 'TransGuinean' railway, extending from the Simandou Ranges to Forécariah on the coast where the deep-water port and ship loading infrastructure will be built at Morebaya.
This $US15 billion major capital investment is set to deliver shared-purpose infrastructure to the area, with the government targeting completion by December 2024, enabling commercial production from mines in the area by 2025.
The Government of Guinea stated on January 30, 2023, that Rio Tinto Group, Winning Simandou Consortium and China Baowu Steel Group agreed to restart infrastructure development for the multi-purpose and multi-user infrastructure project in March 2023.