By Amin Kef Sesay
One of the mining companies that is registered and certified with the requisite mining institutions in the country, Sierramin Bauxite Mining Company, commenced operations in 2014, as a wholly Sierra Leone-based entity with a key purpose to develop the Bauxite deposits at Port Loko, in Northern Sierra Leone.
Although the company commenced exploration operations in 2014, however, it was briefly interrupted by the outbreak of Ebola in 2014/15. The company resumed operations with the signing of the Mining Lease Agreement and the Government Agreement in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Sierramin Bauxite (SL) Ltd is currently operating in two chiefdoms in Port Loko District namely Maforki and Marampa.
Following the signing of the Mining Lease Agreement and the Government Agreement, the company went into active mobilization of equipment and personnel and was on the verge of starting the export of Bauxite when the global COVID-19 pandemic struck in late 2019.
In the circumstances of the global economic downturn, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic; Sierramin Bauxite Mining Company faced challenges in meeting the operational roll-out timelines and targets it had set itself.
With the support of the Government, the company responded to the circumstances with a re-think of strategy.
What for now is certain is that the Company has re-positioned itself to be the most significant new entrant into the mining landscape in Sierra Leone.
As the result of a re-think of strategy this year, the company successfully negotiated and closed an investment deal with the China/Canada-based Devon Impex Limited worth $430 Million towards accelerated and larger development of the Port Loko deposits.
Under this deal, $80 Million is allocated to the Bauxite mining and $350 Million in building an Alumina Plant at Port Loko District. These two deals, as the Chief Executive Officer of Sierramin Bauxite Company puts it: “are part of plans to make the company sustainable and to transform to one of the leading employers in the mining sector”.
On the occasion of the signing of the deal between Sierramin Bauxite (SL) Ltd. and Devon Impex Limited this year, Umar Bah, the Chief Executive Officer of Sierramin Bauxite Company said the mega-deal is going to enable the company to expand the Port Loko Bauxite mine project and to promote and set an example for value-addition in the mining sector for the first time in the country’s history with the construction of an Alumina Plant.
The company is poised to be the leader in promoting Bauxite Mining that will benefit the country at its greatest.
It must be noted that Sierramin Bauxite (SL) Ltd is the only large-scale mining company that has a Sierra Leonean national in the person of Umar Bah, as Chief Executive Officer in 2021.
In his leadership as CEO, Bah expanded and re-capitalized the deal within just five months. Before becoming the Chief Executive Officer, Bah’s leadership and guidance as Country Director led the company to secure its mining lease agreement in 2016.
It is worth pointing out that amid the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that is seriously affecting the mining industry, Sierramin maintained steady pre-production activities. Sierramin Bauxite (SL) Ltd currently employs over 500 employees, and its employees’ condition of service ranked among the best in the mining industry.
Following the signing of the mega-deal with Devon Impex Limited, the mobilization of additional equipment, personnel, and other resources has continued. At the end of 2021, hundreds of Sierra Leoneans will gain employment as the company continues its mobilization of equipment to Freetown in the coming months. In simple terms, the coming to the Bauxite Mining stage by Sierramin Bauxite (SL) Ltd, Sierra Leone’s Bauxite mining is retaking its place on the world stage and bringing more investors’ interest to Sierra Leone’s Mines.
