A contract worker has died after an incident at the SimFer mine, part of the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, according to a report by Reuters.

Mining giant Rio Tinto confirmed that the fatal incident occurred on Saturday at its SimFer operation, which forms part of Blocks 3 and 4 of the Simandou deposit. The company did not release further details about the cause of the accident.

According to Reuters, operations at the affected site were suspended following the incident. Rio Tinto’s iron ore chief executive, Simon Trott, said he would travel to Guinea this week in response to the fatality.

In a statement reported by Reuters, Trott said the company was determined to learn from the incident and to strengthen safety measures to prevent similar tragedies.

The Simandou project is one of the world’s largest undeveloped high-grade iron ore deposits. It is being developed in phases through different consortium structures. Blocks 3 and 4 are held through the SimFer joint venture involving Rio Tinto, its partners and the government of Guinea.

Previous media investigations have reported multiple fatalities linked to construction activities across the wider Simandou project infrastructure in recent years, according to Reuters. However, the latest report provided no additional details regarding the broader safety record.

Authorities and company officials are expected to conduct investigations into the circumstances surrounding the latest incident.