CONAKRY （Reuters） - Guinea President Alpha Conde on Tuesday named Mohamed Lamine Fofana, a former adviser to the prime minister, as minister of mines, according to a decree read over state television.
Guinea is the world's top supplier of the aluminum ore bauxite and its iron ore riches have drawn billions of dollars in planned investments from companies like Rio Tinto and Vale.
Fofana has several years of experience advising on mining issues, most recently to the prime minister of Guinea's transitional government, Jean Marie Dore.
Conde has been rounding out his cabinet since winning a hotly contested November 7 election that ended nearly two years of military junta rule and was billed as the former French colony's first free vote since independence in 1958.
He has already made about a dozen other cabinet appointments, but that of mines minister was seen as one of the most important.
Guinea relies on minerals for over 70 percent of exports, and the new mines minister will have several issues to deal with, including a review of existing mining contracts promised by Conde during his campaign.
Under former minister Mahmoud Thiam, the ministry was also working through several high-profile disputes with miners, including over Rio's rights to the giant Simandou iron ore deposit and Russian minerals firm RUSAL's ownership of the Friguia refinery.
Observers are watching to see if Conde follows through on a promise to include members of his chief rival Cellou Dalein Diallo's camp in a national unity government to ease ethnic tensions that resurfaced during the campaign.
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