West Africa: Liberia Bargains Blind On Mining Deals, Mines Minister Says, Seeks Investors for Surveys and Gold Refinery

Liberia negotiates mining agreements at a disadvantage because companies know more about the country’s mineral deposits than the government, the mines minister said, as he invited investors to fund detailed geological surveys and build a gold refinery.

“They know what is there, but we don’t have the data. Why are they negotiating above us? We are negotiating under because we don’t know what is there,” Mines and Energy Minister R. Matenokay Tingban said Friday at a government town hall meeting on…