Lamco
The Liberian-American-Swedish Mining Company (LAMCO) is a defunct Liberian corporation that mined for iron ore in the Nimba range in Liberia. Founded in 1955 by American and Swedish investors, the company established the first large-scale mining operation in Liberia following the discovery of the Nimba ore body by geologist Sandy Clarke in the 1950s. A standard gauge railroad approximately 250 km long was built, linking the mine in the north of the country, to the Port of Buchanan. The Nimba project was managed by LAMCO, Bethlehem Steel and the Liberian government. A nationalization policy was introduced to gradually phase out the non-Liberian staff. In November 1989, LAMCO was taken over by LIMINCO and under a ten-year contract managed by AMCL. Operations were disrupted, but never damaged, several times beginning in September 1990, and were halted in January 1994 when ships were no longer willing to pick up ore at the Port of Buchanan. Soon after operations were halted, LIMINCO's sites at Yekepa and Buchanan were pillaged which continued until 2004. Today, the former LAMCO mining operation is being reactivated by Arcelor Mittal.