Mineral wealth lies waiting for reopening of the mines closed by civil strife

Gem-quality diamonds are found widely over Sierra Leone and some of them are of exceptional size. However, the nation’s mineral wealth is not limited to precious stones. There’s gold and iron ore, bauxite and rutile as well, and now that peace has been restored, moves are underway to restart mining operations that were halted by the civil war.
Illicit production and smuggling of diamonds remains a problem, but success has already been achieved in improving management of the export trade and boosting legal exports, with the introduction two years ago of a UN-approved certification system.

Valuing diamonds for export

Alluvial diamonds are the most commonly found and difficult to monitor. “Our greatest challenge is to control alluvial diamond mining in such a way that it provides wealth for the people of this country and to the maximum benefit of the nation,”says Mohamed Deen, Minister of Mineral Resources.
Transparency and accountability are regarded as crucial to the operation of the Government Gold and Diamond Office (GGDO), which runs the certification system, prices diamonds and gold for export and collects 3 percent of the export value.
General Manager Lawrence Ndola-Myers says it is essential that people have confidence in the system. “If a man brings in a diamond worth a hundred thousand dollars, you value it at a hundred thousand dollars. You must show that you know what you are doing–that you know exactly what the value of the stone is.”

Giving the mining communities a stake in the industry by returning a portion of the revenue to them through a mining community development fund has had a notably positive effect. “In the past, illicit mining was rampant, but today every chiefdom is fighting for people to obtain licenses, because the more licenses are obtained the more revenue they get,” says Mr. Ndola-Myers.

Kimberlite deposits are present in the three main diamond fields. They require major investment and expertise to extract, but the government anticipates getting substantial revenue from them once multi-national companies like Vancouver-based Diamond Works return to the country.
Negotiations have also been taking place to restart rutile and bauxite mining–potentially a huge source of foreign exchange. Sierra Leone has one of the world's largest deposits of rutile, a titanium ore used as paint pigment and welding rod coatings.

Sierra Rutile, which came to the country in 1979, was once the largest non-petroleum U.S. investment in West
Africa. It has been seeking a $114 million loan from the World Bank to recommence work at its mine in Mobimbi, which has been shut down since 1995. The government has been working to secure a $25 million grant from the EU to help restart operations.
“Now that the country has achieved peace and the government is in full control, it is government's determination that Sierra Rutile should reopen,” says Mr. Deen.