 The railway will start at an elevation of about 650m at the mine, proceed along a fairly level alignment for 350 km, drops steeply for 100 km down to the coastal plain, then traverses that plain for 50 km to the port.The gradients generally favour loaded trains.In September 2010, Sundance Resources signed a memorandum of understanding with CRCC China-Africa Construction Ltd, which outlined construction plans for a 490 km railway linking the planned iron ore mines to a proposed port near Lolabé.