Trapped in a wave of financial crisis, the Iron Ore miner, Marampa Mines Limited (MML) is set to take an exit while a new company takes over.
MML formerly Sierra Leone (SL) Mining , a subsidiary of the US-based Gerald Group, mines the Marampa Blue, the popular name for the Iron Ore In Lunsar, PortLoko District, Northern Sierra Leone.
The exact time for MML’s exit remains unannounced, but the deal for a take-over is being worked out, and the name of the new comer is yet unclear.
A credible source in the mining community, lunsar has intimated this press that, at the moment, MML has cut off job opportunities and sponsorships as the take-over is about to be rolled out.
“All employment opportunities have stopped. MML employs nobody for now until the new company takes over the mines,” the source told this press while expressing hope that employment will commence in four months when the new company would have taken over.
As the financial crisis continues, MML has also put on hold its sponsorship schemes for students who hailed from the communities affected by the mining.
Sponsoring students in universities and other tertiary institutions is a corporate social responsibility scheme developed by the company since the start of the mining. However, between 2025-2026 academic year, no such opportunity has been benefited by the newly enrolled students.
The temporal halt of the sponsorship scheme is reportedly a direct result of the financial crisis that has hit the company hard. But, it is hoped that the scheme will be revived when another Iron Ore miner takes over the mines.
Speaking to this press about the inevitable closure of the Iron Ore mines and the planned takeover by a new one, an economic analyst, who anonymously spoke to this press holds the view that the current situation in Sierra Leone is not investment-friendly.
The country’s economic meltdown, he says, is tied to the lingering post-election stalemate between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the opposition, All People’s Congress (APC).
“The international community and the development partners are no longer helping Sierra Leone by way of providing the funds the country needs to run the economy,” he said adding that no one should expect business to flourish in a country that suffers from low cash flow, high taxes, inflation, weak exchange rate, unfavourable terms of trade and balance of payment of deficits.
He argues that until the post-election stalemate is settled, businesses will always continue to struggle and eventually go out of business as is the case with MML. The vast majority of analysts, critics and observers in the media and the public support this view.
Sierra Leone, he went on, had a low cash flow world Bank, IMF, African Development Bank and other inter-state institution have turned their backs against Sierra Leone owing to the ongoing political crisis.
Sierra Leone faces international isolation because it failed to implement the Tripartite Committee’s recommendations agreed on in October, 2023.
The economic analyst also sees Sierra Leone’s GST (Goods and Services Tax) taxes as one of the highest in West Africa, a situation that is not good for business. Inflation especially for fuel (petrol and diesel) also brings its own problem for the mining company compounded by the weakness of Leone to the dollar.
MML went into a 25-year agreement with the past government in March, 2017 just after the end of the Ebola epidemic in May, 2016.
It was one of the post-Ebola recovery strategies to revamp Sierra Leone’s economy after two years of recession. Nothing went on in the immediate post-Ebola period as almost every facet of society was hit hard.
MML took over from the defunct Iron Ore Miner, London Mining Company (LMC) which shut down owing to what it called the twin shocks: the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and the fall of the Iron Ore price at the global market.
At the same time, another Iron Ore company, African Minerals Limited operating in Tonkolili district also left the country.
Quite at the outset, SL Mining was set to do great things for the people of Lunsar, but government’s somewhat brutal action reversed gains made in the short period of the company’s existence.
SL Mining/MML was put out of business for two years by the PAOA/SLPP regime after condemning the 2017 agreement entered into by the company and the then government of President Ernest Bai Koroma.
Then Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Foday Rado Yokie said “the agreement is erroneous” and needed some clarifications.
Instead of engaging the Iron Ore miner in constructive dialogue, government rode roughshod by illegally placing an immediate ban on export of the ore by MML.
A huge pile of the ore was deposited at the dumper line at the outskirts of Lunsar town, a complete was of resources.
The youth who were highly hopeful of job opportunities were disappointed with signs of abject poverty manifested on their faces.
A good number of Lunsar youth took to commercial riding (okada riding) to eke a living, and desperate appeals for the resumption of mining were rife.
But, life was never the same compared to the mining days with frequent disorders and protest affecting the community.
In one of the most bloody waves of protest, the Paramount Chief, Koblo Queen was chased out of his community by irate youth who attempted on his life owing to allegation of connivance with government to shut down MML.
Intermittent waves of arrest of MML’s staff and vandalism of the company’s main mining facility also caused huge financial loss for the mining company.
The arrest and detention of company staff especially expatriates, alleged concealment of the company’s mining licence and placing a ban on the export of the Iron Ore forced the company to file for arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)/ International Court of Arbitration in August, 2019 seeking $500m compensation for damages.
The company won in 2021 after the ICC and an English court ruled against the government’s attempts to dismiss the case, keeping the arbitration proceedings alive and active.
In May, 2021, the two parties (MML and government) reached an agreement to mutually withdraw their legal claims, allowing mining operations to resume. Arid and hard up, Sierra Leone government decided to offer free mining to MML for a year to compensate the loss.
Between 2021-2022, MML mined and carted away Marampa Blue without paying royalties except surface rent to land owners and corporate social responsibility schemes.
Even when it mined, the company cut down its employment opportunities for the jobless youth in Sierra Leone particularly Lunsar community which host the Gafal hills, the Iron Ore base. The company which initially employed about 2, 000 (two thousand) people slashed the figure to approximately l, 000 (one thousand).
Other fringe benefits for workers and land owners were also considerably cut down.
However, life moves on but investor confidence was shaken to the core.
For several years, Sierra Leone is seen as a country where government does not abide by business contracts and agreements, and hence fear to invest in Sierra Leone.
For the few companies doing business in Sierra Leone, it is no easy pushover for them with some seeking alternatives outside the country.
Sierra Leone is not the only country endowed with Iron Ore, several countries in West Africa have it too, and same time creates investment-friendly environments.
Since profit maximisation is the main aim of any business venture, business owners would like to invest in countries that respect agreements and contracts, ensuring low taxes and improving their social capital especially energy and good roads for businesses to thrive.
Sierra Leone is deficient in energy supply particularly in the dries when turbines at the Bumbuna Hydro and other dams fail to turn.
In such situation, business entities particularly mining companies have no alternatives but to look safe zones.