-A Liberian mining Engineer in US complains Mittal steel to Legislative Caucus
By Joe Bartuah
Boston, Massachusetts-A non-industrialized, third world country, Liberia, like other African countries, heavily relies on its mineral resources to boost its economy and empower its citizenry. That is, if such mineral, natural resources are judiciously exploited within the confines of our existing laws and in keeping with standing Government policies and international best practices.
But what happens when companies that are exploiting our natural, mineral resources are deliberately flouting our statutory provisions with impunity, thereby wasting our valuable resources and undermining the economic recovery of the country?
In such a situation, whose responsibility it is to ensure that relevant government regulations are impartially enforced for the ultimate benefit of the Liberian people?
It’s against the backdrop of such imperatives that Mr. G. Aagon Gwaikolo, a concerned citizen of Nimba County, currently residing in Philadelphia, the United States, is alerting the Nimba County Legislative Caucus (NCLC) about the wasteful operational activities of ArcelorMittal Liberia in Nimba County, which he notes, “has breached” the Mining Development Agreement (MDA) between the company and the Liberian Government, the Mining Laws of Liberia and the country’s mining policy, as well as the African Mining Vision.
When www.newspublictrust.com contacted this mining giant earlier in the week for comment on Mr. Aagon Gwaikolo’s claim, we did not get any reponse.
In a February 26, 2019 communication to the Nimba County lawmakers, copy of which is in the possession of this Journalist, Mr. Gwaikolo said:
“The current method of mining in Liberia by ArcelorMittal is untenable and disingenuous”, noting that since the company began operation in 2005, leading to its first iron ore export in 2008, it “has been involved in the extraction of Direct Shipment Ore (DSO)…”
In other words, rather than mining all the—low, medium and high—grades of iron ore deposits in the area, the company is selectively mining only the highest grade—Direct Shipping Ore–of the ore deposits, thereby willfully wasting the lower grades, which should otherwise be blended with the high grades for marketing purposes as best practices in mining entail.
Further apprising the Nimba legislative delegation about his concerns, Mr. Gwaikolo, a veteran mining engineer with nearly 40 years of experience within multiple mining sectors of the country, including Bong Mines and Lamco, explained that as per the estimate of the 1989 “Bridging Project”—a study done on the iron ore deposits known as Western Deposits, comprising Mounts Tokadeh, Gangra, Yuelliton and Beeton, more than 400 million tons of ore have been pinpointed in the Nimba area.
“This means that considering the current production of ArcelorMittal Liberia at about 5 million tons per annum, mining activities could span over fifty to sixty years”, Gwaikolo emphasized, adding that Mount Tokadeh’s deposits were assessed in that 1989 study at 218 million tons at the time, while Mount Gangra’s was put at 97 million tons.
Unfortunately, due to the selective mining activities of ArcelorMittal, as of March, 2017, the company has abandoned Mount Tokadeh, claiming that its mineral resources have been depleted, mainly because the company is scavenging for the highest grade of iron ore, while neglecting to mine the medium and low grades.
“We all know that mineral resource is finite and depletable”, Mr. Gwaikolo, a former Director of Mines at the Ministry of Land, Mines and Energy in Monrovia, emphasized, adding, “The conduct of irresponsible mining, as done by the ArcelorMittal Liberia company, will engender an early depletion.”
Further alerting the Nimba County lawmakers, Gwaikolo noted that he felt obliged to forewarn the Nimba legislators in particular and Liberian authorities in general, because the “irresponsible mining” activities being carried out by ArcelorMittal, if not halted, will ultimately lead to “the abrupt and premature cessation of the current mining activities and an adverse impact firstly on Nimba County and secondly on the country.”
Further diagnosing ArcelorMittal’s apparent disregard for Liberia’s mining laws and its unprofessional involvement in unsustainable mining activities, Mr. Gwaikolo said the problem started at the very beginning of the company in Liberia, when former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf designated ArcelorMittal as her “pepper bush”, or a sort of untouchable, which has over the years, emboldened the company in infringing Liberian mining laws with impunity.
He lamented that due to such ill-advised preferential treatment by President Sirleaf at the time, ArcelorMittal was not subjected to any form of scrupulous scrutiny by officials of the Ministry of Land, Mines and Energy.
Touching on ArcelorMittal’s environmental practices, Mr. Gwaikolo, who had also briefly worked with the company before transitioning back to the U.S., made it clear that the company’s mining operations have been up to standards, emphasizing that “they have been environmentally responsible” with regards to “their safety culture.” This means that the company is adhering to safety measures, or is not known to be polluting its operational areas with chemicals and other hazardous materials.
“However, let it be known that the type of mining they are engaged in is plainly a destruction of our iron ore resource assets which will have no future attraction when all the high-grade ore would have been taken”, Gwaikolo reiterated.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gwaikolo is urging the Nimba County Legislative Caucus to prevail on ArcelorMittal, so as to construct what he referred to as “iron ore beneficiation plant or concentrator” in its concession area.
The veteran mining engineer informed the Nimba County legislative delegation in his communication that if they succeed in convincing ArcelorMittal to establish such an iron ore concentrator plant, it will not only render the company’s mining activities “sustainable”, by extending ArcelorMittal’s operational lifespan, but would also “add 600 to 900 direct new jobs with unspecified spinoff activities.”