Reuters reported that Guinea said it launched an investigation into violence near a large iron ore mine project as a report seen by Reuters on Wednesday showed photos of five people rights groups said had been killed by security forces during a protest.
An official in the mines ministry said that the clashes between security forces and villagers demanding jobs took place last week in Zogota, where a joint venture between Brazil's Vale, the world's second largest mining company, and Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz's BSG Resources is seeking to build iron an ore mine.
The government statement said that "A legal inquiry has been opened. ... The president of the republic and the government would like to reassure citizens and investors that every effort will be made to find out what happened in Zogota and punish those responsible.”
The killings come at a time of rising tension over mining rights in Guinea, which relies on mineral extraction for 70% of its exports.
The government has said it plans to review all mining contracts, "clean up the business environment" and ensure that foreign mining companies comply with a revised mining code.
The Vale BSGR project is among those under review.
The deaths occurred when soldiers dispatched to Zogota opened fire on protesters, said the report by local rights groups who visited Zogota on August 4.
The report said that "The village is virtually completely abandoned, especially by women and children. Some adult and young men, armed with guns, catapults, bows and arrows and machetes, remain on guard.”
Mining company staff at the project were evacuated from the site following the incident, a Vale official said on condition of anonymity. A press official at Vale's Rio de Janeiro headquarters said the company had no comment on the situation.
Vale and BSGR are seeking to increase output of high-grade iron ore. Demand for the main steel ingredient is soaring in China, even as the richest ore bodies in Australia and Brazil, the two largest producers, are being depleted.
Source - Thomson Reuters
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