Buried Secrets: Who Controls Guinea’s Richest Natural Resource?

‘Buried Secrets’ is the title of a story in the current issue of the New Yorker. It’s about Guinea, in West Africa. It’s among the poorest countries in the world, but also sits atop one of the largest known deposits of untapped iron ore. Author Patrick Radden Keefe says Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz is in control of Guinea’s richest natural resource.

Iron ore is used to make steel. Keefe says the scandal involves the late President Lansana Conté and current president Alpha Condé over the ownership of the iron ore minerals.

Keefe says that Steinmetz was given the resources by then Guinean president Lansana Conté, just weeks before his death. But current President Condé wants to revisit that mining deal and return the iron ore which could generate billions dollars for his poor country.