Pygmies pin hopes on resource-hungry China

BELINGA, Gabon, Feb 27 (Reuters) The pygmies of Gabon's lush northeast equatorial forests may soon be learning Chinese.

Buried deep in thick jungle in the least populated corner of the oil-producing central African state is one of the world's biggest untapped reserves of iron ore, waiting to be developed.

But the country selected by Gabon to help exploit the huge Belinga iron ore deposit is not former colonial ruler France, or any other resource-gobbling Western industrial power.

The chosen partner is China, the newest and hungriest raw materials raider on the African continent.

The Belinga deal in Gabon is only the latest of a string of multi-billion-dollar energy and commodities contracts secured by the Asian economic giant to feed its ravenous economy. China is the world's top steel producer and biggest importer of iron ore.

After years of stagnation and neglect, people in and around the isolated Gabonese village of Belinga, surrounded by virgin forest, are agog with expectation about the arrival of the Chinese and how this can improve their lives.

Although the consortium chosen to develop the mine, led by state-owned China National Machinery&Equipment Import&Export Corp, is only just starting its work on the ground, locals are expecting a windfall in jobs and other economic benefits.

''All of the people's hopes are riding on the exploitation of the Belinga iron ore deposit ... the people are waiting for the work to get going,'' said Andre Nkoghe Ella, mayor of Makokou, the regional capital, around 110 km (68 miles) from Belinga.

The Chinese group plans to begin work this year and complete the project in three years. The Belinga deposit is reported to have proven iron ore reserves of more than 500 million tonnes.

The three billion dollars total investment -- about the level of Gabon's annual budget -- foresees construction of a 560 km railway to carry the ore to Cape Santa Clara on the Atlantic coast, a bulk commodities and container port there and two hydroelectric power stations.

''EVERYTHING TO BE DONE'' At the moment, the journey from Makokou to Belinga is either a muddy drive through hills on a dirt road or a more leisurely motor canoe trip up the Ivindo river, between banks choked with tropical foliage and teeming with game.

Local inhabitants, including pygmies living in neighbouring forests, eke out a meagre living by hunting, fishing or cultivating crops.

''There's everything to be done in this almost forgotten area -- roads, electricity and even running water,'' says boatman Firmin Tcheka, 41.

It was the Chinese group's promises to tackle all of the basic infrastructure required to make the project work that won them the Belinga contract in the face of tough competition.

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