Further to my request last month for information on the Northern Merchantile & Investment Corporation 

and its relationship with the Sierra Leone Development Company, which mined iron ore in that country, 

a former colleague at the Marampa Mine has sent me extracts from a small booklet which was published 

by the company in 1953. This gives some of the background, and may be of interest.



The booklet was called "Iron Ore Mining in Sierra Leone", and the following paragraphs are quoted from it:

 

This booklet tells something of the history and development of a pioneer undertaking in Sierra Leone.  It is 

published 20 years after the first shipment of iron ore from Marampa, this mineral being one of the most 

valuable mineral resources of the country. During these 20 years over 14,000,000 tons have been exported, 

and the reader will learn with interest of the complex and carefully-planned organisation which deals with 

the mining, treatment , shipment and marketing of the ore.

Such an enterprise has been of great benefit to Sierra Leone, not only in giving employment and making 

substantial contributions to the country's economy, but in its provisions for the health, welfare and education 

of its employees.

This booklet is a tribute to the vision and enterprise of the founder Directors on the Company and to the 

devoted and sustained effort, from the earliest years up to the present time, of the staff and workers of 

every grade and rank. 

 

History

Near Lunsar in the Northern Province two hills rise from the Marampa plain. The larger is Masaboin, the 

other Gafal.

Masaboin was the home of the spirit Masaboin Tenke - Masaboin of the Lights - because light-like lanterns 

appeared now and then to move down the flanks of the hill. Masaboin Tenke, the old people said, was the 

wise councillor of the founder of the Marampa Chiefdom, the first Bai Rampa.

The hematite ore deposits in the Marampa Chiefdom were discovered by Dr. N. R. Junner of the Government 

Geological Department in 1926. Exploration in 1927-28 by the African and Eastern Trading Corporation, 

Limited, confirmed that the deposits were promising; and in 1928 the Corporation obtained a Concession from 

the Tribal Authority of Marampa to permit working of iron ore in Masaboin and Gafal.

Big questions remained:-  was there enough ore of good quality and could it be brought to a port? Could it be 

delivered to European and American markets in competition with other and more accessible ores?

The prospect came to the notice of  Mr. James Cambell, a member of a London firm, the Northern Mercantile 

& Investment Corporation, Ltd., which had much experience of iron ore mining overseas, at whose instigation 

detailed exploration continued from 1928 to 1930.  The deposits were eventually proved to be of such quantity 

and quality as to justify development.

 

The search for a port

Marampa is fifty to sixty miles from the coast. The deep water port of Sierra Leon is Freetown, but the expense 

of taking a mineral railway across the Rokel River and through the mountainous Peninsula would be prohibitive; 

also, there was no land around Freetown and near deep water for a railway terminus, bunkers, and ship-loading 

plant. Another port had to be found. It was known that the "Royal Adventurers into Africa" and other companies 

sent their ships to the factories on the island of  Tasso and Bunce on the Sierra Leone river in the seventeenth and 

eighteenth centuries, and that Dutch men-o'-war under de Ruyter pillaged Tasso in 1664.  These were vessels of 

moderate depth, but hydrographic surveying of the river showed that there would be a channel for iron ore ships 

of about 27 feet draft in fresh water as far as the little fishing village of Pepel, about fifteen miles beyond Freetown 

and opposite Bunce Island, where the Rokel River and the Port Loko Creek join to form the Sierra Leone River.

 

Sierra Leone Development Company Limited formed

By 1930 therefore, given reasonable markets, the commercial possibilities were confirmed. In that year the Northern 

Mercantile Investment Corporation Limited in conjunction with Messrs. William Baird & Company Limited, a 

[Scottish steelmaking] firm with extensive overseas mining experience, agreed to form the Sierra Leone Development 

Company to acquire and work the Marampa Concession, although the long trade depression had begun and iron ore 

markets were uncertain.

The risk capital subscribed by the shareholders for the original construction was £500,000. To assist the development 

of the Colony, hit by the trade depression and entirely dependent upon agricultural produce, the Colonial Development 

Fund loaned another £500,000, which was secured by a floating charge on the entire assets of the company. The loan 

was repaid by 1939.

 

Construction

Construction occupied most of three years. The first headquarters were at Sahr Marank (The Elephant Rock) on the 

Port Loko Creek, four miles below Port Loko. It was the best place to bridge the Creek and was about half way 

between Marampa and Pepel, so that, from Sahr Marank the railway construction could work both towards Marampa 

and towards Pepel. Simultaneously with the construction of the railway, work proceeded on the bunkers, pier and 

ship-loading installation at Pepel and the laying out of the mines, including housing for Africans and Europeans.

By the beginning  of September 1933, the railway and the installations at Pepel were ready and at Marampa quarrying 

had begun. That month saw the first shipment of iron ore from Sierra Leone on the s.s."Hindpool".

 

Mining of Red Ore

The capping of the upper slopes of Masaboin and Gafal, the first ore accessible, was red [lateritic] hematite iron ore 

analysing around 57% iron. This hard ore has been gradually removed over the past twenty years by open cast mining.

At the quarries, ore is sorted when loaded into mine tubs as to lump ore and smalls, the former going direct to main 

line railway wagons and the latter to the washing and screening plant. From the higher quarries the loaded tubs are 

taken to the main railway wagons and the washing and screening plant by means of an endless rope gravity haulage. 

Whenever possible gravity is used for moving tubs but elsewhere tubs are assembled into trains which are hauled by 

small diesel locomotives.



[There are more pages to the booklet, not copied to me]

 

Conclusion

The foregoing is an outline of the growth of an commercial venture pioneering with heavy machinery.  It has placed 

Sierra Leone in a prominent position in the Free World as a supplier of iron ore, and has provided also one of the 

largest sources of revenue to the economy of Sierra Leone.  Behind the Sierra Leone operations which have been  

described, from the discovery of the mineral up to the complex organisation that is the Marampa and Pepel of today, 

is the work outside Sierra Leone, of marketing, shipping and insurance of the ore. There is the very necessary work, 

also, of the technicians who keep in touch with developments or advances in mining practice and the treatment of ore, 

throughout the world. If Sierra Leone is to keep her place in the world market, the highest attainable efficiency must 

continue to be the aim both in Sierra Leone and outside, but with co-operation and understanding all round, Marampa 

ore can continue to maintain its present position in a highly competitive trade.

This booklet is intended primarily for our Sierra Leone friends and the Company trusts that all have found pleasure in 

reading it. As the number of copies is limited, it would be appreciated if the booklet could be passed on to any others 

who may be interested, especially to young men seeking a promising career.



I hope the above will prove to be of interest to some on the Mining History List.

Tony Brewis