A China-backed joint venture between Guinea’s Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB) and Singapore’s Winning International Group scored a big win in the iron ore world after securing on Wednesday rights to develop the northern area of Simandou, one of the world’s largest untapped deposits of the steelmaking ingredient.

The $14 billion bid submitted by the SMB-Winning consortium, whose investors include Chinese aluminium producer Shandong Weiqiao and the Yantaï Port Group, edged out Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group’s (ASX:FMG) $9 billion offer.

Guinea, which launched an international tender for blocks 1 and 2 of Simandou in mid-July, said the consortium had committed to build a 650km railway and a deep-water port on the country’s coast to ship the ore to key markets including China, the world’s top consumer of the commodity.

“The Simandou Project will be crucial for Guinea’s future,” Sun Xiushun, chief executive of SMB-Winning, said in the statement. “With the Transguinean railway, Guinea will now have a real lifeline linking four Guinean regions, accelerating administrative and economic decentralization and strengthening the country’s rail network.”

For some analysts, such as Eric Humphery-Smith from Verisk Maplecroft, the outcome of the tender is hardly surprising. “It was clear from the beginning that SMB was more likely to commit seriously to the Trans-Guinean Railway than FMG – a deal breaker for this project,” he said.

The question on everyone’s lips, Humphery-Smith noted, is whether the owners of Simandou North and South can come together to make the railway a reality.

“The main dividing line will be their respective financial input; an updated deposit appraisal at Simandou North is likely necessary before a deal can be struck,” he wrote.

The northern blocks became available early this year as part of a settlement between Guinea’s government and Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz’s BSG Resources (BSGR), which ended a bitter and long-dragged out dispute involving Rio Tinto, Vale SA and BSGR.

As part of the agreement, Steinmetz’s company agreed to walk away from the asset, but retained the right to mine the smaller Zogota deposit.