The Simandou mine has known much turmoil and many mining rights disputes over the years. In 2008 Rio Tinto Group, the licensee of the Simandou concession, was ordered by the Guinean government to relinquish the northern half (Blocks 1 and 2, east and southeast of Kérouané) to BSG Resources, a company controlled by the Israeli diamond investor Beny Steinmetz.