FIGURE 1212  WEST AFRICA MINERALS YEARBOOK—1988 
EMPLOYMENT TRENDS IN THE LIBERIAN IRON ORE INDUSTRY 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LIBERIANS(h) 
 
~ LIBERIANS(s) E.:.:. EXFWrRIATES 
 
Ii * hourly ~orkars a * salarl.d workara 
LIBERIANS(h) 
 
~ LlBERlANS(~) ~:: EX~TRIATES 
 
h * hourly workars a * aalarlad workars 
 
 
 
three Liberian companies: Atlantic Oxygen Corp., which makes industrial gasses;
Atlantic Steel Works Inc., which makes rods; and Atlantic Shipbreaking Inc.
, which uses scrap to make steel rods. The complex employs 100 Liberians
and 10 expatriates. 
 
 
13 
 
 
 
 The production of gold continued to dominate the mining industry of Mali;
gold export revenues in 1988 were about $37 million and made up about onefifth
of the country's total rt'4 Gold was produced by one underground mine, and
by numerous artisanal miners. Reported gold production increased significantly,
but likely included gold smuggled in from neighboring countries. Some Malians
worked as artisanal gold miners on a seasonal basis in Burkina Faso. The
mining industry was otherwise characterized by the production of small quantities
of cement, gypsum, marble, and salt. 
 There was significant gold exploration ongoing during the year, especially
in the Kéniéba region, and, most notably, at Syama
in the Bagoé
region. At 
the latter, one company completed feasibility studies that were expected
to lead to a favorable production decision in early 1989. Toward yearend,
the French Government signed an agreement worth $2.65 million to help with
gold exploration programs in the Kéniéba and Kangaba
areas.

 In August, the Soviet Union granted a $6.7 million commercial loan to rehabilitate
the Socima cement factory at Diamou. Earlier in the year, a new company was
formed to further exploit reserves of marble near Kayes. 
 
Commodity Review 
 
 Metals.—GoId.—Mali's 1988 gold production was listed
as about
85,200 troy ounces. About 16,000 ounces of this was from the Kalana Mine,
the only official mine in operation. The remainder was from artisanal production
in Mali and, probably, artisanal production smuggled into the country from
Burkina Faso and Guinea. 
 The Kalana Mine continued to be the only large-scale operation in the coun~
try. The state-owned underground mine was run by the Société
de Gestion et d'Exploitation des Mines d'Or de ~ Kalana (SOGEMORK), with
Soviet ~ technical assistance. Gold production 
in 1988 increased almost 50% to about 16,000 troy ounces. The ore graded
about 0.33 troy ounce per ton and had a gold-to-silver ratio ranging from
7 to 10. The gold is primarily within lowangle quartz veins penetrating both
a pipe-like dioritic stock and the Birrimian-series country rocks. Some gold
is also found associated with arsenopyrite and pyrite in the country rocks
adjacent to the stock. Both the mine and the mill were undergoing expansion
to provide for an increase in gold production to about 32,000 ounces per
year starting in 1990. Mining was hampered by a high rate of water infiltration
into the workings. A further problem was the high cost of diesel fuel needed
for the mine's generators. The Soviet Union was financing the construction
of powerlines to link the mine with the hydroelectric plant at the Selingué
Dam. 
 BHP-Utah International Inc. of Australia (BHP) continued exploration work
on the Syama concession granted to it by the Government in mid-1987. The
company had been attracted to the area based upon findings of a regional
exploration program, conducted by the United Nations Development Program,
which located a significant gold anomaly near 13th- to 15th-century gold