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concession area it did not fulfill its contractual obligation
to provide free primary education for the children of all
employees (33).
The only regular payment which Globex made to the Treasury
was rental of its concession area but until the company in late
1976 was granted exploitation lots comprising a total of 16,400
acres, at a rental of one dollar per acre per year, yearly
payments for rental did not exceed $ 2,000, making a total of
some | 25,000 during the 1973 - 1977 period. In these five years
the company had produced, and sold, 15,731 carats of diamond, and
an insignificant quantity of gold, with an aggregate value of
$ 620,000 (34). It seems justified to conclude that Liberia lost
more than it gained through Globex' operations.
In addition to the overall-contribution of Globex to the
Treasury also should be added the payment of rental under an
Exploration Agreement which was signed on October 7, 1974, and
which gave the diamond mining company the exclusive right to
explore for minerals, metals and ores in an area which was
"running along the coast from the mouth of the Cestos River
up to the border between the Republics of Liberia and of Sierra
Leone and within ten (7 0) miles of said coast" (35), provided
that this exploration area would at no time exceed 500 square
miles (approximately 320,000 acres) and the company would not
select any area which was already held under an agreement by another
individual or organization. The main provisions of this
Exploration Agreement were the same as of the Diamond Mining
Concession Agreement of 1972, rental payments under it being
therefore § 32,000 a year. In December 1976 Globex terminated
the Exploration Agreement when the U.S.-companies which had
initially shown interest (Diamond Distributors, Inc.; the
Superior Oil Company; Gulf Resources) had lost interest after
a dramatic drop in the world demand for heavy minerals such as
rutile, ilmenite, and kayenite as a result of the decrease in
the demand for iron and steel.
In 1976 it was revealed that Globex had prospected for diamonds
in areas outside the concession area, and had mined diamonds in
the exploration area without selecting exploitation lots. The
company had thus occupied more than 21,000 acres, including an
area within the B.F. Goodrich concession area, which had been
covered by the connivance of high officials within the Ministry
of Lands and Mines (36). The then Minister of Justice, Oliver
Bright, Jr., qualified this illegal occupation of over 4,000
acres, and the mining within this area, as "more attributable
to a (Lona fide error than corruption" (37). Globex admitted
having operated in areas outside its concession area but
attempted to justify this by stating that it had never carried
out the (obligatory) survey of its concession area.
Eventually, Globex was "condemned" to pay back rental for the
excess area it had occupied and to give back this area to the
Government. No indemnification for diamonds possibly extracted,
or fine, was imposed. Globex' opposition to the returning of