As London Mining’s hiring and environmental practices at the Marampa iron ore mine in Sierra Leone attracted criticism from a local NGO and a Parliament committee, nearly a hundred youth from nearby villages entered the site and caused the company to halt operations for a few hours, a London Mining statement informs. Although the cause of the unrest is unclear, the wording of government agency responses as reported by newspaper Awoko suggests local discontent against the company might be the motivation. One salient grievance would seem to be the flooding that affected Manonkoh village last year and is blamed on London Mining. The company has since donated food and supplies to Manonkoh villagers. Protests at the Marampa site have taken place in the past.

London Mining has recently received an exploitation license for the Isua mine in Greenland, a rather large project expected to require the import of Chinese labour. There’s more about it in my article on the topic from a few months ago, and a few more recent posts.