US$1b Mittal Steel Deal Approved

MONROVIA (Thomson Financial) - Arcelor Mittal won clearance from the Liberian Senate to launch a 1 bln usd iron ore mining project following a contract renegotiation, a Senate spokesman said late yesterday.

The 25-year concession, which will generate more than 20,000 jobs once the mining operation is fully operational, gives the steelmaker access to 1 bln cu m of ore in the resource-rich west African country.

The deal, which was ratified earlier this month by the lower house, is a revised version of an Aug 2005 deal reached by a transitional government.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf rejected it as unfair when she came into office five months later.