ArcelorMittal inaugurates 20-million-tonne-capacity concentrator in Liberia

Ahead of the formal commissioning of a new 20-million-tonne-capacity concentrator, the President of Liberia, His Excellency Joseph Boakai, and ArcelorMittal Executive Chairman, Mr. Lakshmi Mittal, attended an inauguration event held at the site of the concentrator in Tokadeh, Nimba County.

Coming soon after ArcelorMittal celebrated 20 years of mining in Liberia, the new state-of-the-art concentrator is one of the largest iron ore beneficiation plants in Africa. It is the central component of ArcelorMittal’s US$1.8 billion expansion project in Liberia - bringing ArcelorMittal’s total investment in Liberia to date to approximately US$3 billion - which will see production increase from current levels of 5 million tonnes of iron ore a year, to 20 million tonnes, alongside a significant improvement in product quality to higher-grade, higher-value iron ore.

The expansion project also involved investment in accompanying infrastructure assets. The railway from Tokadeh to Buchanan is being upgraded, while a new pier has been added at the port of Buchanan, along with associated material handling infrastructure.




5,000 contractors have been brought in to support the project, in addition to the 2,000 people permanently employed by ArcelorMittal in Liberia.

ArcelorMittal has ambitions to further expand capacity at its Liberian mining operations, with plans under development for a phased increase to 30 million tonnes of annual production capacity, and options being studied to produce DRI quality concentrate. The current expansion project has been undertaken with future expansion in mind, with upgrades to the railway already enabling it to transport 30 million tonnes of iron ore annually.