The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo unveiled its ambitious project “Mines de Fer de la Grande Orientale”
(MIFOR), a mining complex aimed at developing iron ore deposits in the northeast of the country.
The total resources of the project are estimated at about 20 billion tons, with initial investments amounting to about 29 billion dollars, which includes developing mining infrastructure and industrial processing facilities, in addition to establishing a major logistical corridor linking heavy railways and river transport across the Congo River, all the way to the deep-water port of Banana.
The government is planning a gradual approach to production, starting with an initial capacity of 50 million tons per year, gradually escalating to 300 million tons per year, over a specified operational period of 25 years, during which the project is expected to generate a total income exceeding $679 billion.
However, some analysts, according to the L’agence Ecofin report, pointed out that the criteria presented for the project have not yet been linked to any officially approved technical or economic justification, and the use of the term “resources” instead of “reserves” raises questions about the accuracy of the estimates. Details of financing, potential investment partners, and implementation timelines are still unclear, despite the government document confirming the interest of international investors in the project.
