By Tina S. Mehnpaine – Monrovia, Liberia, Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
A deal expected to generate millions of US dollars annually has been signed between Liberia and a Singaporean company, Al Khaldiya Mining Private Ltd.
National Telegraph gathered a Memorandum of Understanding – MoU on March 3, 2020, gives Al Khaldiya Mining Private Ltd the right of transshipment of iron ore from neighboring Guinea.
National Telegraph can confirm the deal will see the transship of 789 million tons of iron ore from the Diecké project in Guinea, some two kilometers North of Ganta, Nimba County, through the Yekepa-Buchanan rail line.
Al Khaldiya’s CEO said in a release they were so happy after the signing of the MoU with the Liberian government. Rohan Patnaik went on that the transshipment of iron ore would provide many jobs to both countries.
Al Khaldiya Mining Private Ltd is a Kuwaiti-backed private company. Between 4-0 million tons of iron ore is expected to be exported annually for the 25 years of its operations at the Diecké project.
According to Rohan Patnaik, the deal will generate a lot of revenue and expand Liberia’s mining sector. He also said his company will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the environmental and social impacts of the iron ore transshipment on local communities and forest for the transshipment project.
The deal was signed by Gesler E. Murry, Minister of Mines and Energy, Molewuleh B. Gray, Chairman of the National Investment Commission (NIC) and Rohan Patnaik, CEO of Al Khaldiya Mining Private Ltd.
