November 1, 2021
Albert Baron Ansu
The Sierra Leone Peoples Party led government has shown distinct mark of openness in the negotiation with the Marampa Mines Limited and the Gerald Group with an initial 10 million dollars paid by the company. This amount is the first installment of 20 million dollars.
The government negotiation team was inclusive of an opposition figure as chairperson, specifically the National Grand Coalition Mayoral candidate Samuel Ethan who was also a former Executive Director of International Monetary Fund.
Other government team of negotiators included other eminent public officials namely: Mr. Herbert McLeod (Country Director, International Growth Center); Dr. John Karimu, (former Minister of Finance and Commissioner General, NRA); Mr. Timothy M. Kabba (Minister of Mines and Mineral resources); Mr. Sahr Jusu (Financial Secretary); Dr. Samuel Jibao (Commissioner General, NRA) and other senior Government officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Justice, the National Minerals Agency, National Revenue Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Gerald Group has announced that it has recommenced first ship of iron ore tp China following the out of court settlement.
According to Reuters “Marampa’s first capsize vessel – the largest cargo ships – set sail on Thursday evening carrying more than 175,000 wet metric tons of iron ore concentrate.
It has been disclosed that the world price of iron ore has soared, “to reach record highs of $240 per ton in May, driven by strong demand from China.”
It will be recalled that Sierra Leone and the Gerald Group entered into a Memorandum of Understanding in May 2021 which provided for a Government of Sierra Leone to hold a free carried and non-diluted interest of 10% in the new Marampa Mines Limited which is expected to provide additional revenues for Government. This aspect was absent in the disputed former SL Mining Agreement.
This development means prospect for job creation especially for indigenes in Masimera and Port Loko district. Based on the ratified deal the company is expected to start full scale operations in January 2022.