The_Open_Door_deel1

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accumulated exploration costs had already exceeded $ 10,5 million.
They had been mainly financed by the Swedish Syndicate,
in particular by its major member, Grangesbergbolaget, which
until 1957 had participated with the Swedish Government in the
exploitation of iron ore deposits in Sweden but which had been
forced to give up its interest in the joint venture in favour of
the Swedish Government which had paid substantial compensation
for it. This considerable amount in fact allowed Grangesberg to
pre-finance the initial investments for starting up the mine
(10).
In April 1959 a new Letter Agreement was signed between LAMCO
and the Bethlehem Steel Corporation regulating Bethlehem Steel's
participation in the mining project. This agreement was presented
to the Government together with a Joint Venture
Agreement (stating the relations between LAMCO and Bethlehem
Steel in respect of the joint exploitation of the Nimba Mountains
ore deposits in addition to other affairs), a Tax Convention
(to rule Bethlehem's tax liability in Liberia), a Management
Agreement (providing for the management of the Venture by
Grangesberg), and a revised Mining Concession Agreement. During
the preceeding years the Government had been kept well informed
about the status of the Project and the results of the
negotiations. Among those who had been involved in the discussion
of significant proposals and documents were President Tubman,
Secretary of the Treasury Charles D. Sherman, Attorney-General
Garber, Director-General of the National Planning Agency J.Milton
Weeks, Director of the Bureau of Natural Resources and Surveys
A. Momolu Massaquoi, and Speaker of the House of Representatives
Richard A. Henries - the latter mainly as LAMCO's Counsel in
Liberia (11), They were thus well aware of the intentions of the
investors in respect of the financing of the mining venture.
On May 7, 1959 President Tubman approved in principle the
submitted documents by authorizing the signing of a letter which,
in fact, had been drafted by LAMCO's (and LIO's) General Counsel
in the U.S.A., the firm of Sullivan & Cromwell (12), In early
July of the same year Bethlehem Steel withdrew from the joint
financing of the Project and announced its decision to finance
its share in the investments (according to the Joint Venture
Agreement 25? of the total costs) entirely from its own funds,
leaving its Swedish partners to find the balance of the money
needed to finance their 75?. The project had again been revised
in April of that year, and total costs of investments were now
estimated at about $ 200,000,000, which was and still is an
astronomical amount in Liberia, In 1958 Government's revenues
had totalled some $ f8 million. (Only at the end of the 1970 's
yearly domestic revenues were to reach the $ 200 million mark).
The investment would make possible a yearly production of six
million tons of ore, or more than double L.M.C.'s yearly output.
The long term ore contract with German buyers, which had been
negotiated over a number of years, finally materialized in
November 1959 and an agreement was signed with a group of
thirteen German Steel mills. If the Liberian Government had ever
thought that the vast and rich ore reserves of the country could
lead to the (subsequent) construction of steel mills, or only