Guinea's mineral wealth makes it potentially one of Africa's richest countries, however, most of its citizens live on less than $1 (£0.80) a day.
Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz and two associates are to stand trial for allegedly bribing Guinean officials to win mining licences, Swiss prosecutors say. The prosecution is seeking prison terms of two to 10 years.
The trio allegedly paid $10m (£8.2m) to one of the wives of former Guinean President Lansana Conte.
They charge that the money was paid to a wife of the country's former president partially through Swiss bank accounts. In February this year, Guinean authorities dropped corruption charges against Mr Steinmetz and BSGR in exchange for relinquishing rights to the Simandou mine. Simandou is one of the world's biggest iron deposits, containing billions of tonnes of high-grade ore. The Guinean government has said it was not involved in the Swiss investigation.
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