SMFG was formed in 2003 following the signature of a mining convention agreement and annexes by SMFG’s major shareholder, Euronimba Limited, and the Government of Guinea.
Later that year, the Government granted a concession of 6.25 km² in the northern Guinean Nimba Mountains where SMFG has worked to develop a mining project. The Guinean Nimba Mountains are in the extreme south-east of the Republic of Guinea, on the borders with Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. They are in Bossou and N’Zoo Rural Communes, in Lola Prefecture, in the Administrative Region of N’Zérékoré. In 2005, SMFG took over the existing infrastructure left by previous exploration campaigns, which had started in 1968 by the United Nations’ Development Programme (UNDP), and were led from the early 1970s to the early 1990s by the parastatal company Mifergui-Nimba. In 2005-07, SMFG rehabilitated and expanded Mifergui-Nimba’s abandoned buildings, access tracks, drill platforms and other infrastructure. SMFG conducted resource drilling from 2006-09 to reconfirm the results of earlier drilling. All activity occurred strictly within areas reserved for mining. In 2009-10, SMFG conducted extensive rehabilitation of areas no longer needed for drilling, drawing valuable lessons for future environmental restoration.
