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old Tchien and Gbaepo Districts), and for this purpose obtained
the support of Grand Gedeh Representatives Harper S. Bailey and
Joseph J. Geleplay, Sr.. The company entered into negotiations
with the Government but before an agreement could be reached it
was discovered that Azuza had been involved in a number of
illegal activities, details of which were not disclosed (46). In
September 1976 the Government ordered the closing down of the
clandestinely operating mining company, despite the fact that a
Joint Venture Agreement between the "Azuza Mining Corporation"
and the "Continental Investment Corporation" (whereby the latter
supplied Azuza with $ 1.5 million capital) had just been signed.
The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Government was
somewhat anxious to terminate the agreement with the "African
Mining Partners" and to discontinue the discussions with the
"Azuza Mining Corporation" though the latter had certainly been
taking advantage of the lack of effective supervision exercised
by the Government "up country". During 1976 the Government had
been contacted by Lee Edgar Detwiler, a man with a reputation
in government circles in Liberia. In 1953 he had signed the
original concession agreement with the Government for the
exploitation of the iron ore deposits in the Nimba Mountains,
in Nimba County, where LAMCO J.V. since the 1960's has operated
the largest iron ore mine in Africa. In 1967 he had concluded
another concession agreement, this time for the mining of the
enormous Wologisi iron ore reserves, in Lofa County (see also
Chapter 8). When in 1976 Detwiler approached the Liberians for
the negotiation of a gold mining concession agreement he was
sure to meet government officials who remembered this and who
respected him for his past achievements. Aided by A.B. Tolbert,
whom he knew through LISCO, which company held the Wologisi
iron ore deposits under the concession agreement of 1967,
Detwiler had direct access to the President, William Tolbert.
The first official contact took place on July 5, 1976 (47).
This time Detwiler wanted an exclusive gold mining concession
of 70 years duration to operate throughout Liberia. The draft
agreement which he proposed for this purpose was practically
a copy of the concession agreement for the mining of the Nimba
ores of almost 25 years ago. But times had changed, and people
in Liberia had gained more experience and wisdom . One of the
chief architects of the liberal economy, built during the
Tubman-era, J. Milton Weeks, rejected Detwiler's proposals and
commented e.g. on 1^he proposed term "much too long" (48).
Excercising strong pressure on government officials and personally
meeting President Tolbert more than once, Detwiler
nevertheless managed to conclude within three months a mining
concession agreement with a term of 40 years, i.e. longer
than the usual 25 years for this type of mining concession, for
a concession area of over half a million acres (100 square
miles in each of the nine counties of the republic), in which
his company the "Liberian Gold and Diamond Corporation", had
the exclusive rights to produce gold, diamonds, and uranium.
The last-mentioned product had not been included from the