At stake is the ore mass that is the Simandou mountain range in the West African country’s forested south, thought to be the world’s richest iron deposit.

In a court filing last week, mining dynast Beny Steinmetz named 83 individuals and companies – key among them South African politicians, businesspeople and spooks – he said may have evidence of the “corrupt rigging” that culminated in the “unlawful misappropriation” of his company’s stake in Simandou.

But Steinmetz, a Franco-Israeli billionaire whose global footprint includes renewable energy projects in South Africa, may have trouble convincing the New York court of his claims, with a related FBI investigation lapping at his own feet.

Available: http://mg.co.za/article/2014-09-11-sa-spooks-fixed-guinea-poll?ars=true