Guinea's Chinese mining accord - deal or no deal?

* Mines Ministry officials question reported deal

* Would allow Guinea to ignore international sanctions

By Daniel Magnowski and Saliou Samb

CONAKRY, Nov 10 (Reuters) - A reported $7 billion deal between Guinea and China Investment Fund (CIF) has left Guinean government officials in the dark and foreign diplomats worried the ruling junta could use the cash to ride out sanctions.

The West African country's trade minister told a domestic website last month that Guinea was in talks with CIF, a Hong Kong-based group, about a minerals and oil deal. [ID:nN15312204]

The Chinese government has since said it is not involved in any such investment, the group itself has not confirmed it, and Guinean officials could give no details.

"I've not seen anything, I've not been part of any meeting," said Nene Moussa Camara, director of communications at the Mines Ministry. "I don't know anything."

Guinea, the world's biggest exporter of aluminium ore bauxite, also produces gold, and is a potentially huge source of iron ore. Despite ownership disputes with successive governments, some of the world's biggest resources firms including UC RUSAL, Rio Tinto (RIO.L) (RIO.AX) and Alcoa (AA.N) operate there.

Mines Minister Mahmoud Thiam, previously accessible to journalists, returned neither telephone calls nor emails, and officials in the dilapidated ministry building did not know his whereabouts.

Others within the ministry say they are increasingly being cut out of the loop by the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), as the ruling junta calls itself.

"Nobody has seen the deal. It exists, but nobody has seen it," said a senior official in the ministry who would normally expect to be party to negotiations.

"In all these deals, the question is, 'what are we putting on the table?'," he told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, and adding there had been no technical input from geologists, engineers or economists.

"It's a political decision. For the sector, I'm worried. Important technical questions have not been answered." In general, such a deal would be signed by the Mines Minister and Finance Minister, and ratified by the President, he added.

"BRAVO DADIS"