By Festus Poquie
Just Two of Liberia’s 15 counties with combined land area of approximately 4,740 square miles are home to nearly four dozen of Critical rare earth mineral deposits according to studies carried out by the Chinese.
These are minerals whose discovery was announced early this year, President Joseph Boakai told Frontpage Africa when he was attending the US-Africa trade summit in Washington with President Donald Trump.
Liberia’s government announced in January, it has deposits of critical minerals including lithium, manganese, cobalt and neodymium that it hopes will attract $3 billion of investment. The Liberian government plans to lobby for US investment in its natural resources.
Besides what the Chinese did, Boakai has asked the United States government to conduct extensive geological surveys to gain a comprehensive understanding of the country’s mineral wealth.
“China did two counties, Lofa and Maryland – and they said that we have forty-seven strategic minerals,” the President said.
“We want to know, the minerals we have in the entire country. It will give us a better opportunity to plan for the use of our mineral and the management of it. In fact, I am feeling that it is about time that we know that so that we plan which ones are more strategic – and that we can manage them for the benefit of Liberians.
“The US has the skills, and we believe they too, because instead of just sitting and complaining, we want them to be a part of it. We don’t have the technology they have. So, it will be helpful for all of them to share this knowledge and we can use it to our advantage.”
Sourcing key critical minerals has been a priority for the Trump administration as he seeks to reduce US reliance on China, which is dominant in the industry, and used rare earth materials as a bargaining chip in trade talks between the world’s largest economies earlier this year.
Rare earths are used in some of the world’s most critical industries, in products as varied as semiconductors, smartphones, clean energy and medical technology.
Before the US trade talks, Liberia signed a $1.8 billion agreement with Ivanhoe Atlantic Inc., majority owned by a company founded by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.
Chairman Robert Friedland. The deal allows the US miner to rehabilitate and use the country’s railway to transport iron ore from neighboring Guinea for export into the US.
