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Gold
and Diamond Mining: Mining less spectacular than in Sierra Leone |
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The seven foreign companies that entered into diamond mining concession agreements with the government between 1944 and 1977 all showed only moderate successes, and sometimes even outright failures. Liberia’s history of diamond mining, though older than that of e.g. neighbouring Sierra Leone, is definitely less spectacular. Gold mining seems to share the same fate as appears from the experiences of the few gold mining companies, which attempted to establish modern large-scale mining methods. Any analysis of the diamond and/or gold production in Liberia suffers from the disappearance of concession agreements, the absence or incompleteness of files, and from unreliable production and export data.
Historically, smuggling of diamonds from Sierra Leone into Liberia has
always been excessive but the
exact quantity and value of these smuggled precious stones were difficult
to estimate. In Sierra Leone diamond mining operations started after the
discovery of the first gemstone in 1930. In 1958 the Government of
Sierra Leone seized control of the export of diamonds. Because of the
export tax imposed it became very profitable to take advantage of the weak
security measures and the administrative underdevelopment of both
countries to export diamonds through one of Liberia’s air or
seaports. The latter’s export figures include some, but not all, of these
diamonds of Sierra Leonean origin though without them being specified. |
(1) Interview with the Assistant Minister for Statistics, Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs, Phillip Gadegbeku, held in September 1977 in Monrovia. | |||
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fpm van der kraaij
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