Business Plan for Small Scale Mining in Sierra Leone
DIAMOND AND GOLD MINING PROJECT IN SIERRA LEONE
[pic]
9.25 CT DIAMOND FROM SIERRA LEONE
CONTENTS
1. GENERAL 2. INITIAL REQUIREMENTS
GENERAL
For the last 2 years our company has been closely following the Sierra Leanean diamond “Industry” if we can call it that. Sierra Leone is a small country in West Africa mainly known because of the bloody and vicious civill war which ended about 3 years ago. I have visited this country a few times – each time for a period of 1 month or more. During those vistts I tried to familiarize myself with the diamond and gold mining industry. During those visits – I have been in Freetown (the capital of Sierra Leone) in which I successfully dealt with all the necessary licences needed in order to visit the mining sites – and purchase diamonds and/or gold. After obtaining the necessary licences, I mostly moved around in the small mining towns and villages. During those visits I tried to purchase gold and diamonds from the miners – but without much success. The quantities of available gold from the miners are very small (gold mining is usually done by one person who digs and washes the gold – and does not have the necessary funds to emply labour or use mechanized equipment). Diamonds can be obtained and purchased easy but in order to buy them – a big invested is required and also a very deep knowledge in rough (both condition I can not fulfill).
But those trips and the close knowledge of the country led me to the conclusion that the best investment it this country is the mining. The local miners do not have the funds for large scale mining and the knowledge to use mechanized equipment. The mining is usually done usually by individuals in a very small scale – and some of those individuals, lucky enough to shoew some profit – reinvest the profit in hiring labour to develop and enlarge their activities.
Foreign investor are not very eager to invest in this country. This is a very
[pic]
9.25 CT DIAMOND FROM SIERRA LEONE
CONTENTS
1. GENERAL 2. INITIAL REQUIREMENTS
GENERAL
For the last 2 years our company has been closely following the Sierra Leanean diamond “Industry” if we can call it that. Sierra Leone is a small country in West Africa mainly known because of the bloody and vicious civill war which ended about 3 years ago. I have visited this country a few times – each time for a period of 1 month or more. During those vistts I tried to familiarize myself with the diamond and gold mining industry. During those visits – I have been in Freetown (the capital of Sierra Leone) in which I successfully dealt with all the necessary licences needed in order to visit the mining sites – and purchase diamonds and/or gold. After obtaining the necessary licences, I mostly moved around in the small mining towns and villages. During those visits I tried to purchase gold and diamonds from the miners – but without much success. The quantities of available gold from the miners are very small (gold mining is usually done by one person who digs and washes the gold – and does not have the necessary funds to emply labour or use mechanized equipment). Diamonds can be obtained and purchased easy but in order to buy them – a big invested is required and also a very deep knowledge in rough (both condition I can not fulfill).
But those trips and the close knowledge of the country led me to the conclusion that the best investment it this country is the mining. The local miners do not have the funds for large scale mining and the knowledge to use mechanized equipment. The mining is usually done usually by individuals in a very small scale – and some of those individuals, lucky enough to shoew some profit – reinvest the profit in hiring labour to develop and enlarge their activities.
Foreign investor are not very eager to invest in this country. This is a very