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Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Julius Daniel Mattai, announced that Sierra Leone exported $1.2 billion worth of minerals in 2023, marking a significant achievement in the mining sector. Speaking on Radio Democracy’s ‘Gud Morning Salone’ program on July 4, 2024, Mattai discussed the opportunities, challenges, and successes of the Mines Ministry.
“In 2013, we exported about $1.4 billion, but this figure dropped to $500 million during the Ebola outbreak. After introducing new mining policies, we saw exports rise to $310 million in 2020, $560 million in 2021, $900 million in 2022, and finally $1.2 billion in 2023. For 2024, we aim to reach $1.5 billion,” he stated.
Minister Mattai provided an extensive update on the mining sector’s contribution to the national economy, employment, and benefits for host communities. He highlighted the Extractive Industry Technical Assistance Project (EITAP), funded by the World Bank, which undertakes geophysical surveys to improve governance and build technical capacity within the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources and the National Minerals Agency (NMA).
While 28 large-scale mining licenses have been issued, only 6-7 companies are currently producing. Additionally, 32 small-scale mining licenses have been granted. Last year, gold exports reached 105,000 ounces, generating $12.5 million, while diamond exports totaled $105 million.
Minister Mattai emphasized that the mining sector is both challenging and full of opportunities. He underscored the importance of completing geophysical and electromagnetic surveys to fully ascertain the size, depth, and quantity of minerals in specific areas.
The iron ore sector, including Marampa Mines and Kingho Mining, contributed 65% to exports, with Sierra Rutile contributing 8%, Kudu 20%, and small-scale mining making up the remainder. The minister noted that mining exports accounted for nearly 85% of Sierra Leone’s total exports.
Minister Mattai also addressed the issuance of exploration licenses, explaining that these are necessary for discovering mineral deposits. He stressed that mining activities involve significant capital investment and risk before any returns can be realized.
The government is committed to transparency and stakeholder engagement to ensure the sector’s sustainable growth. Minister Mattai reaffirmed the Ministry’s dedication to managing mineral resources in accordance with the Mines and Minerals Act 2009, developing policies for systematic exploration, and ensuring the nation maximizes its mineral wealth.
The Ministry continues to attract foreign investments and partnerships, implementing mining policies to promote sustainable practices and equitable revenue distribution.
So if we are exporting such amount of money on minerals,why then are we stuck and crying for $480million funding. Our government’s fucking sick in the head
And the country benefits only $10,000 per year. The Government has nothing to do to Create ideas to minimize huge export
But why not seeing the corresponding effect on the dollar rate???? Though been stagnated for so long, yet no downwards trend is been seen in the dollar rate. From economic standpoint, I think what actually goes into our foreign reserve should apparently give weight to our currency. Can the Economists in this platform please assist us in that regard.
What the minister failed to say was how much US$$$ the GoSL derived from the export of these mining products. Mining is a huge capital intensive investment. The mining companies and their shareholders are the main investors in these enterprises. Thus, the bulk of the income derived for the sale or export of these products go to the investors and the shareholders. The GoSL does not export the products; the companies do. For the GoSL to get a huge piece of that pie, it has to buy huge percentage of the shares in these companies. Who knows how much shares our leaky government has in these mining companies. So US$ 1,3 billion may look huge on paper, but the fraction goes into the national treasury may actually be very little.
“So if we are exporting such amount of money on minerals,why then are we stuck and crying for $480million funding. Our government’s fucking sick in the head”
This shows a complete lack of understanding of basic business and economics. As someone else posted, this amount is for sales of product from the mines, it goes to the mining companies. The goverment gets a bit of that from royalties and hopefully taxes, but even if the government owned the mines and was realizing a hundred percent of the revenue, it doesn’t mean profits. The mines could be operating at a loss. But more importantly, when it comes to national economies, $1.4 billion is not as much as you think it is, so I don’t understand why you think we shouldn’t be “crying” for the $480 million from MCC. An extra $1.4 billion a year would not solve all our problems. You are also forgetting that we have a very corrupt government and some ministers and others are hoping this will be a cash grant that they will be able to steal millions from, so yes, there will be a lot of crying over the $480 million.