Liberia negotiates mining agreements at a disadvantage because companies know more about the country's mineral deposits than the government, the mines minister said, as he invited investors to fund detailed geological surveys and build a gold refinery.

"They know what is there, but we don't have the data. Why are they negotiating above us? We are negotiating under because we don't know what is there," Mines and Energy Minister R. Matenokay Tingban said Friday at a government town hall meeting on the extractive industry in Bomi County.

Tingban said mining companies often conduct extensive geological investigations before negotiating Mineral Development Agreements, giving them a clearer picture of a deposit's commercial value. He said the government may enter those talks without comparable information to independently assess the resources.

He said earlier assessments, including work by the United States Geological Survey, identified mineral occurrences in various parts of Liberia but did not establish the quantities of commercially recoverable deposits in many locations.

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To close that gap, Tingban said, the government is seeking investors to conduct detailed surveys of the quantity and distribution of the country's mineral resources. He said conversations on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly opened contacts with potential investors.

"That's why, at this time, even from the UN General Assembly, where we had some conversation, we have invited billionaires to come into this country and conduct a detailed general survey to generate the needed geoscientific data that we need to inform us at the decision-making table," he said.

Tingban said the data would strengthen the government's ability to assess deposits, evaluate investment proposals and negotiate agreements that better reflect the country's resource potential.

He also said Liberia must stop relying on exports of unprocessed minerals, which he said limits the benefits the country could gain from domestic processing, jobs and investment.

"Liberians should move beyond exporting minerals in their raw state. We must ask how much value Liberia retains before its minerals leave the country," he said.

"Right now at the ministry, we are inviting mineral processing companies to establish a gold refinery in Liberia," Tingban said.

He cited Bea Mountain gold production in Grand Cape Mount County as an operation that could benefit from domestic refining. He said processing gold before export could strengthen Liberia's place in the mineral value chain.

Tingban did not name any company or investor for either initiative, give an investment figure or set a timeline for the surveys or the refinery.