Mineral exploration company High Power Exploration (HPX), which is headed up by chairperson and CEO Robert Friedland, has received consent from the Guinea government to acquire the 95% interest in the Nimba iron-ore deposit currently held by BHP, Newmont Goldcorp and Orano.

The Nimba deposit is estimated to hold about one-billion tonnes of high-grade iron-ore containing very low levels of impurities, according to a review completed in 2015 by the US Geological Survey.

Iron-ore of this quality is essential for reducing energy use, greenhouse-gas emissions and slag production during the steel-making process.

At a signing ceremony in Conakry on Thursday, HPX president Eric Finlayson also announced that former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe and Ivanhoe Mines director Guy de Selliers de Moranville had agreed to become co-chairpersons of the HPX subsidiary that will hold the Nimba asset.

Both have joined the board of Société des Mines de Fer de Guinée (SMFG), the Guinean company operating the project.

According to Finlayson, bringing the Nimba deposit into production would help Guinea President Alpha Condé “realise his long-standing vision of seeing Guinea become a world-class producer of iron-ore”.

Finlayson added that, with local procurement of goods and services, as well as the local recruitment and training of the workforce, the upgrading of transport routes and infrastructure, and the resulting economic multiplier effects, HPX anticipates “that major social and economic benefits will flow from the Nimba mine”.

As a catalyst of sustainable economic development, the mine will ensure long-term protection for the nearby Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve.

Subject to all necessary approvals, HPX is planning to bring a starter mine of one-million to five-million tonnes a year into production as quickly as possible, while feasibility studies are being completed for an expanded operation of at least 20-million tonnes a year.

The Guinea government and HPX have agreed on terms for the updated Nimba Mining Convention, including a 15% free-carried government interest in SMFG, as well as tax and royalty arrangements and a development timetable.