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The Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Julius Daniel Mattai, yesterday Thursday 4th July, 2024 provided a promising update on the country’s mining sector in an interview with FM 98.1D ‘Good Morning Programme’ in Freetown.
The Mines Minister gave a comprehensive update on the mining sector and how the sector is contributing to the national economy, employment and what the host communities will benefit from the sector.

The Minister dilated on the Extractive Industry Technical Assistance Project (EITAP) funded by the World Bank to undertake Geophysical Survey.

According to him, the EITAP is all geared towards improving governance in the mining sector as well as to capacitate the technical staff of both the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resource and the National Minerals Agency (NMA) on geological survey.

Julius D. Mattai further justified reasons why government is still issuing out exploration licenses to companies and the dynamics involved in exploration to discover minerals in particular areas.

“Even though the government had done geophysical survey of our minerals but the processes have not been completed to identify the size, depth and quantity of minerals in a particular area,” the Minister disclosed.

“The next plan has to do with electromagnetic survey and geochemistry to ascertain the aforesaid quantity and size of minerals in an area.”
Julius Mattai averred that mining activities are a very risky venture that involves a huge capital investment before any company or individuals can start to repay their benefits.

He furthered that after the aforesaid processes were completed with support from the development partners, there would be no exploration of minerals in Sierra Leone.

The Minister also dilated on the increased foreign investments and partnerships aimed at bolstering the growth of the mining sector, adding that the government is implementing mining policies to ensure sustainable mining practices and equitable revenue distribution.

Julius Mattai registered government’s commitment to transparency in the mining sector and the engagement of all stakeholders to drive the sector’s long-term success.