CONAKRY: Guinea’s ruling junta has reached a $15 billion deal with Rio Tinto and an Asian-Guinean consortium to exploit the vast Simandou iron ore deposit in the southeast, public television announced.

The three-way deal, signed late Friday, has a 35-year duration for co-development by Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and the Singapore-led Winning Consortium.

Guinea has stunning mineral wealth, including the world’s biggest untapped deposits of high-quality iron ore. But the West African state remains mired in poverty and saddled with a reputation for corruption.