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Elsbridge Trust Ltd. In November 1953 the Stockholms Enskilda
Bank was contacted with a view to a possible Swedish
participation. It is not known whether Detwiler already foresaw
that Elsbridge Trust Ltd. would not be able to involve itself in
the project which at that time was not expected to be a
successful venture.
In June 1954, the Scottish geologist, A.W. Clarke, was sent by
the British company of Elsbridge Trust Ltd. to commence
exploration of the Putu Range, but in the course of the year
doubts arose as to whether the Putu Range ore deposits would
ever warrant commercial exploitation. The (exploration)
activities slowed down and Detwiler almost lost the concession
(5).
In the beginning of 1955 Elsbridge Trust Ltd. withdrew from the
project and subsequently the I.A.A.C. (6), on February 5, 1955,
signed an agreement with a group of six Swedish companies which
joined the Project as a partner to the I.A.A.C This Swedish
Syndicate acquired 50? of the "B" shares in LAMCO from I.A.A.C
- the "A" shares being owned by the Liberian Government - in
return for cash considerations and a commitment to make certain
advances to the Project to cover one half of the exploration
costs. It was also agreed that the management of LAMCO was to be
vested in the Syndicate, which was named the Swedish Putu
Syndicate. The Swedish Syndicate consisted of six companies
which provided a wide range of technical, managerial and
financial experience. They had been brought together by the
Stockholms Enskilda Bank (S.E.B.) which institution later proved
instrumental in the realization of the mining venture. The Bank
was (then) headed by Marcus Wallenberg who was the co-owner of
the Wallenberg Group of Companies, part of which formed
Grangesbergbolaget, an iron ore mining and transportation
company, and in those days the world's largest iron ore exporter.
Grangesbergbolaget participated in the Syndicate and eventually
.became its most important member. The other five members (in
1955) were Atlas Copco AB (engineering business), AB Nordstroms
Linbanor (manufacturer of mechanical handling equipment),
Skanska Cement AB (Sweden's largest manufacturer of cement, also
engaged in construction activities), AB Ifoverken (manufacturer
of building materials) and Svenska Entreprenal AB Sentab (a civil
engineering and contracting firm) (7).
The discovery of the Mount Nimba iron ore deposits
Later that year (1955) I.A.A.C. appeared no longer able to bear
its share of the exploration costs and had to borrow from the
Syndicate in order to finance a continuation of the activities
in the Putu Range. In October a start was made on the exploration
of the Nimba Mountains and on the eve of Christmas 1955 the
Scottish geologist Clarke made his historic discovery at Mount
Nimba which was to change fundamentally the outcome of the venture
(8).
Immediately it was decided to suspend work in the Putu Range and