After failing to find a serious partner, Russian steel giant, Putu Mining, has pulled out of Liberia, Liberia’s minister of Lands, Mines and Energy, Patrick Sendolo, told the Liberian Senate on Monday.
Said Sendolo: “From all practical purposes, Putu is basically out of Liberia but technically the Mines Development Agreement (MDA) is still valid though Putu walked away from the agreement.”
Putu Mining had been looking for a credible partner with whom it could share the risk of undertaking the project, after discovering that it did not have the resources to manage single-handedly.
After the commodity prices free fall, mining companies are shelving their greenfield projects waiting for the market to rebound.
Financiers have been avoiding mining assets as if they are a plague. A far cry from the situation, two years ago when they scrambled for them.
