Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune inaugurated a 950-kilometer (590-mile) railway Sunday, a project built in partnership with China that is central to developing the country’s iron-ore resources, Bloomberg reports. 

The line links the Gara Djebilet mine in the western desert near the Moroccan border with Tindouf and Bechar, before connecting via an existing railway to Oran on the Mediterranean coast, where Turkey’s Tosyali Holding operates a steel complex.

The inauguration clears the way for the first shipments of ore from the Gara Djebilet mine, a project that has been under discussion for decades. Feraal, a subsidiary of Algeria’s state miner Sonarem, and China’s Sinosteel are among the companies participating in the wider initiative.

Built by Algerian state firms and China Rail Construction Corp., the railway is part of a broader strategy to diversify Algeria’s economy beyond hydrocarbons. The country, a major gas supplier to Europe, relies on oil and gas for more than three-quarters of its exports and roughly half of state revenue, leaving it exposed to fluctuations in global energy prices.