The_Open_Door_deel1

-250-
which can be fed directly to blast furnaces) from hematite ore
with a FE-content of 64 - 66?. Bong's pelletizing plant, on
the other hand, treats itabirite ore with an average Fe-content
of only 38.7? and which is first upgraded in a concentrator to
63.5?. The difference in character of the operations of the two
mining companies is clearly demonstrated by LAMCO's policy to
discard ore with an Fe-content of less than 45? (111).
THE LIBERIAN IRON AND STEEL CORPORATION
The Loma-people in the northwestern corner of Liberia knew of
the existence of iron bearing rocks in the Wologisi Range and
even developed small-scale smelting of iron in the 19th century
(112). Twisted iron bars were produced and introduced as a
medium of exchange. (Not until the second half of the present
century was this locally produced money completely replaced by
the U.S. dollar and by Liberian coins). In 1934 President Edwin
Barclay made payment in western currency compulsory for traders
who wanted to purchase products in the interior of the
Republic (113).
The Wologisi Range is located in northwestern Liberia, about
140 miles from Monrovia - as the crow flies. The area was
aeromagnetically surveyed for the first time in 1953 by the
Aero-Service Corporation of Philadelphia as part of a general
survey of Liberia (which also resulted in the "discovery" of
the Putu iron ore deposits). The potential mining area occupies
about 14 miles of the Range, between the villages of Kpandemai
and Dabu. The greater part of the Range, however, is still
covered by heavy, primary rainforest. Mainly to the west of the
mountainous area there are open areas, the so-called "grassfields"
which form a landscape of a savanna type (114-) •
Lee Edgar Detwiler (1966)
Mid-1966 Lee Edgar Detwiler turned up again in Liberia, this
time with the Liberian Iron and Steel Corporation (LISCO), the
successor to the Kitoma Trading and Mining Company after he had
reached an understanding with the owner(s) of this company.
As may be recalled, the Kitoma Trading and Mining Company, a
Liberian-owned company, in 1964 had concluded a mining concession
agreement with the Liberian Government. In 1965 LAMCO had
successfully claimed the Kitoma area when the Attorney General,
James A.A. Pierre, had declared the 1964 Agreement a voidable and
unenforceable document. The owner of the company, Togba,
subsequently had been compensated by LAMCO. He also had been
granted exploration rights with respect to Mount Wutivi in the
Wologisi Range and a promise of the Liberian Government that in