CTC Mining Delivers Cheques Totaling Le1.9 Bn To 3 Communities

Port Loko District Council hall was filled with government dignitaries and other prominent personalities in the district, punctuated by dancing and merriment from happy residents of Marampa and Mafokie Chiefdoms, who praised Commodity Trading Company (CTC) a bauxite mining company operating in the area, for making the first payment of Le1.9 billion Old Leones as surface rent.

The new Bauxite Mining Company is expected to create more job opportunities and to also embark on infrastructural development and capacity building for residents, with modern mining skills development in that part of the country.

Since the closure of Sierramin Mining company, most of the residents have been unemployed, and this, according to local authorities, have hurt their daily survival, hence the introduction of the operations of CTC mining Company was a dream come true for them.

Country Representative, Fassally Tawarallie, said that the payment of the Le1.9 billion Old Leones was for them, at CTC mining company, an action to demonstrate their commitment to undertake large-scale bauxite mining project in the Maforki and Marampa chiefdoms in the Port Loko district.

He noted that they will start operations soon and residents will have the opportunity to reap the benefits of their natural resources and gain maximum training from the company.

Authorities of the two chiefdoms say that they will use the surface rent money to help develop their communities, as reviving Bauxite mining production in the district was the answer to their long-awaited desire.

Paramount Chief Bai Koblo Queen II of Marampa Chiefdom in the Port Loko District, said his role was to ensure that they benefited from the natural resources in their land, and are determined to embrace the company in return.

Resident Minister North West, who doubles as the Presidential Spokesperson, Alhaji Alpha Kanu, described the event as a landmark occasion for stakeholders of the three Chiefdoms, because CTC Mining Company has made huge investment in those Chiefdoms by making huge start in its development strides, barely within one month of operation.

Security personnel in the district pledged to protect and preserve the integrity of the CTC mining company. They also called on the youths to take advantage of the opportunity in their corridors.

CTC mining company is the largest extractive mining company in Turkey, and the fourth in the world, so their operation in the three chiefdoms in the Port Loko district is a laudable one, as they will be producing over seventy million tons of commercial bauxite every year

Bauxite is the best and only material for making aluminum metal, and is used in the chemical industry, refractory brocks, abrasive, cement, steel, and petroleum. Lateritic bauxite is often used as a building material.

Having more mining operations in the country is crucial for the government revenue generation drive, but community ownership and collaboration with miners are considered vital to sustainable mining operations.