The Liberian Senate says the Executive Branch advanced the Ivanhoe Atlantic mining deal on a foundation that "does not exist," after a Senate investigation found no evidence the government ever sought Guinea's approval -- a legal requirement for the cross-border project.
The finding, contained in a detailed report to be submitted to the Senate plenary rebukes the government's handling of the Concession and Access Agreement (CAA). The Senate Joint Committee on Transport, Concessions, Judiciary, Ways, Means, Finance and Budget concluded that Liberia did not meet the obligations laid out in the Liberia-Guinea Implementation Agreement, the treaty governing how Guinean minerals may transit through Liberia's rail and port system.
According to lawmakers, all documents submitted by the Executive were either outdated or irrelevant, with most originating before Guinea's 2021 political transition. The committee said not a single official communication -- no letters, minutes, resolutions or diplomatic correspondence -- was produced to show any engagement with the Guinean government in more than four years. The National Investment Commission confirmed it had been unable to establish contact with Guinean authorities, while the transport minister's claim of an informal discussion with his Guinean counterpart was unsupported by documentation.
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The report noted that this absence of engagement is not a procedural oversight but a core breach of treaty requirements. Under the Implementation Agreement, Liberia and Guinea must jointly constitute an Inter-Ministerial Committee, a Monitoring Committee and a Joint Technical Secretariat -- bodies responsible for reviewing access applications, issuing technical opinions and overseeing cross-border mining transport. The Senate found no evidence that any of these institutions were ever created, let alone operational. Without them, lawmakers said, Liberia had no legal basis to evaluate or approve Ivanhoe Atlantic's request for rail access.
While the Executive touted the project's economic potential, including more than 400 direct jobs, nearly 2,000 indirect jobs and roughly US$1.8 billion in projected government revenue, senators said such projections lacked the independent analysis necessary to evaluate their credibility. They also questioned the proposed rail access fees, described as unusually low by global norms. Although officials said a study informed the pricing, the study was never presented.
Ivanhoe plans to build a 25-mile road from the Liberia-Guinea border to Tokadeh, but the company intends to use laterite rather than pavement, raising doubts about durability, safety and long-term environmental impact. Lawmakers also noted that while the Executive referenced a feasibility study with a two-year timeline for constructing a rail link between Ivanhoe's Guinean mine and the Tokadeh rail line, the agreement does not impose a binding requirement to meet that deadline.
The Senate also warned that the concession's requirement to establish a National Rail Authority intrudes on legislative sovereignty, stressing that only the Legislature has constitutional authority to create statutory bodies. Embedding such structural changes in a private concession, lawmakers argued, risks committing Liberia to institutional reforms it has not debated or approved.
Meanwhile, the committee examined roughly US$37 million already paid by Ivanhoe to Liberia, including US$7 million in 2019, and found no clear legislative authorization for accepting the money prior to ratification of the Implementation Agreement. Without explicit legal grounding, senators cautioned, the payment could be construed as a loan, potentially obligating the government to repay it with interest.
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Despite its criticisms, the Senate Joint Committee recommended that lawmakers approve the deal, but only after substantial amendments. These include requiring the 25-mile road to be fully paved before any ore is transported, restructuring community benefits so that Ivanhoe does not directly manage development projects, and inserting a strict obligation that the rail link from Guinea to Tokadeh be built within two years of commercial production. The committee also called for access fees to be raised to between US$3.00 and US$2.00 per ton, and insisted that the US$37 million already paid be classified as a non-refundable signature bonus. Importantly, the report recommends that the agreement automatically terminate if Guinea does not approve transshipment within five years. It also urges lawmakers to revise all references to a National Rail Authority to ensure the Legislature's constitutional authority is not compromised.
