By: OrePulse

Liberia's House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the national legislature, endorsed a sweeping review of the country's mining sector on October 15, 2026, advancing a committee report that recommends setting aside $1.5 million in the 2027 draft national budget to fund the effort. The vote came after lawmakers raised concerns about illegal mining, mineral smuggling and weak government oversight of the sector.

The House approved the report from its Committee on Mines and Energy and referred it to the Committee on Ways, Means and Finance, which will weigh the funding as part of the broader 2027 budget process. Under the proposal, the Law Reform Commission would manage the $1.5 million allocation, using it to carry out technical and legal reviews of Liberia's mining laws and to hold consultations with stakeholders across the country.

In its report, the Committee on Mines and Energy pointed to illegal excavation in forested areas, the smuggling of minerals out of Liberia, unlawful involvement by foreign nationals in small-scale mining, and shortages of staff and logistical resources at the Ministry of Mines and Energy as problems undermining the sector. The committee said previous piecemeal amendments to mining law had failed to resolve these structural weaknesses, and argued that a comprehensive legal and regulatory review was needed instead. Lawmakers are also examining how existing mining concession agreements were negotiated, according to the committee's findings.

Separately, Senator Amara Konneh called on the United States government to impose Global Magnitsky sanctions on people and entities that he said enable mining deals unfair to Liberia, warning that such arrangements amount to state capture of the sector. Konneh, a member of the Liberian Senate, did not name any specific individuals or companies in making the call.

The call followed figures, drawn from Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) investigations, indicating that Bea Mountain Mining Corporation, a gold producer operating in Liberia, generates an estimated $1.62 billion a year, while the government's share of revenue from the operation is about $48.6 million — roughly 3 percent of that total. The figures were cited in the context of the broader mining-sector review. Neither the committee's report nor Konneh's statement alleged wrongdoing by Bea Mountain.

The House review follows a government town hall meeting in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, where acting Superintendent Alphonso Sherman called for greater transparency and community participation in mining-related decisions. Sherman urged the formalization of informal miners and said mining companies should disclose and honor commitments made to host communities.

President Joseph Boakai has separately established a taskforce to address illegal mining in the country.

Liberia is among West Africa's leading producers of gold and iron ore. The mining sector has drawn growing legislative and public attention over revenue-sharing arrangements and enforcement gaps in recent months.