Global steelmaker ArcelorMittal has announced the approval by its board of directors of phase two of the company's mining operations in Liberia. The second phase of the project will bring the annual capacity of the iron ore mine from 4 million mt per year to 15 million mt per year in 2015.
According to ArcelorMittal's statement, the company, which is the first investor to enter post-war Liberia in 2005, has invested over $1 billion in the development of its operations. Phase two will result in further investment in the port, mainly through a new fixed ship loader that will have a loading capacity of 6,000-8,000 mt of iron ore per hour, and the construction of a concentrator at the mine site in Yekepa which will produce iron ore pellets enabling ArcelorMittal to increase its production capacity to 15 million mt per year.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, ArcelorMittal also signed a $40 million deal with the government of Liberia to build a 70 km road between the towns of Ganta and Yekepa, close to the company's iron ore mine in Mount Tokadeh.
