Liberia
The first foreign entrepreneur to respond to President Tubman?s Open Door Policy was that of Colonel Lansdell K. Christie of New York, a typical frontier American, restless in spirit and ambitious to succeed, who negotiated and obtained in 1946, a concession right from the Liberian Government to exploit iron ore deposits, mainly in the Bomi Hills area where the highest grade of ore containing about 66 percent iron content was found. For this purpose Christie founded the Liberian Mining Company. The history of this first major mining operation and the second major industrial activity in the country after Firestone Rubber Plantations Company began decades ago, when navigators along the northern part of Liberian waters began to report the erratic behavior of their magnetic compasses, and rumors began to circulate of the possible presence of iron ore in Liberia.
| In early as the 1930?s syndicate from the Netherlands had obtained from the Liberian Government a concession to prospect for diamonds. Although the search for diamonds was discouraging, one of the Dutch geologist who conducted the search had located in the Bomi Hills range, where the low coastal plain give way to an area of high forest, a deposit of iron ore, which was at once recognized to contain an extraordinary purity of iron content, averaging 66 to 69%. This discovery by the Dutch was hidden, but nor for long from the mining circles of the world and soon what navigators suspected was being discussed a possible reality. |
| In 1935 another and quite distinct Dutch group, the Noord Europeesche Erts en Pyrist Maatschappij, commonly referred to as NEEP, became interested in the Bomi Hills area. During 1936 and 1937 they undertook extensive magnetic and geological surveys and made drillings totaling some 6500 feet. Suspicion arose that there was a Nazi interest in the background of this undertaking, and as a result the Liberian Government called off the NEEP project. Following this suspense, at the suggestion of the American State Department, the United States Steel Company was given a six month exclusive right to make geological exploration of then the western and central provinces of Liberia. As a result a group from the United States Steel Company visited Liberia in 1938, and after making a rather cursory inquiry into the Bomi matter reported unfavorable because of the number of factors, among which was the difficulty of shipping iron ore by surboat since there was no harbor, no railway, no developed highway, and no bridges across the large river the Saint Paul. With rumors of war pending and the uncertainly of the world iron ore market, the matter was tabled by the United States Steel Company. |
| How it all Began in Bomi Hills |
| In 1943, with the war against Germany and Japan at its height and world stock of steel dwindling, the United States decided to search for available sources of iron ore. Under an act of Congress authorizing ore exploration in the Philippines and Latin America?s, passed May 3, 1939 by Executive Order 9190, dated July 2, 1943, the authority was extended to include Liberia and the U.S Department of Interior was director to organize and send geological mission to Liberia. |
| In December 1943, a group consisting of Dr. Walter Newhouse, Dr. Thomas Thayer and Dr. Arthur Butler, proceeded to Liberia. Mr. Arthur Sherman joined them in Liberia a Liberian Mining Engineer educated in the United States, who aced as a representative of his government and whose knowledge of the country and of native customs gave valuable assistance to the American Group. President Tubman, who was just taking office at this time, suggested that the geologist direct their attention first to the Bomi Hills area. |
| Dr. Newhouse and his associated spent four months examining, testing and surveying the Bomi Hills deposit and reconnoitering an ore deposit of less value in the Kpendenal Hills, far to the north of Bomi. The survey of the Bomi Hills deposit was as complete as possible at this time and the findings of the earlier Dutch explorations were confirmed. The confirmation of this iron ore deposit coincided with the conclusion of an agreement between the United States and the Liberian Government for the construction of the harbor at Monrovia. This not only enhanced the prospects for iron ore shipping, but overcame |
| one of the major obstacles that made the United Steel Company abandon its interest in the deposit. In order to move a ton of iron ore 45 miles inland to the port, the development of a railway system along with roads and bridges is required. Further, financing must be arranged and a working engineering and administrative infrastructure must be developed. Such an undertaking demanded an individual with pioneering spirit, full of energy and faith and one who would inspire trust and confidence from the Liberian Government and its new president. Such qualities of leadership were found in a young and ambitious American, Lansdell Christie who became interested in the possibility of mining iron ore in Liberian during the last world war, when he was assigned to Monrovia as commander of the U.S Marine Transportation Company charged with the establishment of Roberts International Airfield. |
| Based upon the information he had received from the various geological surveys in connection with the Bomi Hills iron ore deposit, Christie made contact with some Liberian Government officials, and later met President Tubman who gave him encouragement during their first meeting. After this meeting with the President, Christie walked the 40 miles to Bomi to verify the fact and upon his return to Monrovia he bean seriousness negotiations with the Government. President Tubman, who by now had been inaugurated, was discovered by Mr. Christie to be a very sympathetic and co-operative leader. Together the two men with their advisors sat down and worked out a Concession Agreement and the Liberian Mining Company was born. The Concession, which dates from August 1945, has a life span of eighty years. It concedes to the Liberia Mining Company Ltd., the exclusive mining rights for all minerals except gold, platinum and diamonds within a forty-nine radius of Bomi Hills. Originally the agreement provided for a fixed royalty to the Liberian Government of five cents per ton of ore taken out, in addition to other taxes based on the New York Market price prevailing. |
| This was subsequently amended to a profit sharing agreement, which today gives the Liberian Government a 50% share of net profits. The Liberia Mining Company began production and made its first shipment in June 1951. |
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