Ivanhoe Atlantic, a U.S. mining company, plans to mine iron ore in Guinea’s UNESCO-protected Nimba Mountains.Mongabay has obtained a copy of the confidential environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) currently being reviewed by Guinean authorities, which details extensive and irreversible damage to Nimba’s endemic and endangered species and critical habitats.The ESIA concludes that the planned mine risks causing “lasting and significant damage” to the adjacent World Heritage Site.The document’s findings also indicate the project might be breaching globally recognized environmental and social safeguards that Ivanhoe has publicly committed to.
CONAKRY — Over the next few months, Guinea’s environment ministry will review an environmental and social impact assessment for an iron ore mine in the country’s Nimba Mountains. The project, named Kon Kweni, is to be carved out of Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Comprising a unique combination of tropical forest and high-elevation savanna, the Nimba highlands are a biodiversity hotspot, home to dozens of endemic species. According to the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA), these highlands would face “direct and major risks,” “irreversible damage,” and “threat to species survival” if the mining operations go ahead.
