The_Open_Door_deel1

S ource:
-249-
TABLE 17
INVESTMENTS OF THE BONG MINING COMPANY
November 30, 1976
(millions of U.S. dollars)
Mine $ 25.1
Blending Plant 2.7
Concentrator 43.4
Pelletizing Plant 45.3
Operation Area 13-3
Power Plant 28.2
Water Supply 8.5
Railroad 29.5
Port 12.8
Townsites 22.6
Exploration and planning costs 15.1
TOTAL $ 246.5
- "Technical Information", pamphlet published by B.M.C, Bong
Range, Salala District, Bong County, Liberia, December 1976
In financial terms some other Concessionaires contributed much
more to the Liberian Treasury than the Bong Mining Company.
This is mainly explained by the difference in"character of the
mining operations resulting from the use of an ore with a much
higher Fe-content asds e.g. the case of LAMCO and L.M.C The
ore mined by these two companies was almost pure iron ore and
needed no up-grading. LAMCO has even been called a transporting
company rather than a mining company as its activities (prior
to the installation of a pelletizing plant) were virtually
limited to the blasting of rocks which form the Nimba Mountain,
and the hauling, crushing and transporting of the ore thus produced
to the port of Buchanan where the ships are waiting to
receive the ore. The process of transporting the ore from the
Nimba Mountains to the ships is fully mechanized (110). The
pelletizing plant which LAMCO has operated since 1966 produces
pellets (small "balls" of approximately I inch in diameter