Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone-focused mining company African Minerals has appointed administrators, it said on Thursday, having being battered by a rout in iron ore prices and costs related to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Reuters reported. After failing to repay its lender and partner in the Tonkolili iron ore project Shandong Iron and Steel Group, African Minerals has appointed Neville Kahn and Ian Wormleighton of Deloitte LLP as joint administrators of the company and of its subsidiary African Minerals Engineering Limited.

Sierra Leone-focused mining company African Minerals said on Friday it will appoint administrators after failing to repay its lender and partner in the Tonkolili iron ore project Shandong Iron and Steel Group, Reuters reported. After taking on some of African Minerals' debt from banks and demanding immediate repayment last week, Shandong, which owns 25 percent in Tonkolili, took control of the holding companies in the project.

African Minerals said on Friday its Chinese partner in its sole asset, the Tonkolili iron ore project in Sierra Leone, has taken on some of its multi-million dollar debt and is demanding repayment, Reuters reported. The loan is secured against certain assets of the borrower and by taking ownership of the debt, Shandong is in a position that could allow it to take control of the project. "The borrowers and guarantors do not have sufficient funds available to make the payment demanded," African Minerals said in a statement on Friday.

The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it will provide a total of $100 million in debt relief and another $160 million in low-interest financing for the three West African countries hardest hit by the Ebola crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. The deadly Ebola epidemic has slammed the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as the health disaster slashed state revenues and crisis costs overwhelmed the governments’ budgets.

Embattled West African iron-ore miner London Mining Plc said on Thursday that its board had decided to place the company into administration, Reuters reported. The company, which owns the Marampa mine in Sierra Leone, has been battling high costs, a sharp drop in iron prices and the impact of the Ebola virus on operations in West Africa. "The board and management will be working with the administrator of London Mining Plc to maintain the Marampa mine as a going concern," the miner said in a statement.