MME Visits Arthington Gold Mine -Inspects Gem Rocks’ Preparedness to Transition to MDA

MONROVIA – The Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), over the weekend made a follow-up field visit to Arthington, Montserrado County in response to an earlier request from Gem Rocks Mining Resources (Gem Rocks), a subsidiary of Zodiac Gold, Inc, for a transition of its Exploration Program to a Mineral Development Agreement (MDA).

The vision was also in furtherance of ongoing verification exercise for applications for mineral rights, aimed at verifying geological information which the company supplied to the Ministry of Mines and Energy in its application for a Mineral Development Agreement (MDA).

Gem Rocks has been exploring for Gold in Liberia since 2021 and has now reached a critical phase of its systematic Exploration Program at Arthington and targets across Montserrado and parts of Western Liberia.

The phase requires the Ministry of Mines and Energy to dispatch a high-level team for detailed technical discussions that will inform policy discussions and decisions at the highest level.

Gem Rocks earlier informed authorities of the Ministry of Mines and Energy that it had made a (significant) discovery within the Arthington target, and has identified additional gold targets at Ben-Ben, Feh-Feh, Youth Camp, Alasala and Alasala South exploration sites and is therefore seeking a Mineral Development Agreement at the earliest possible convenience.

The August 2, 2025 verification exercises included another technical presentation by Gem Rocks through its Chief Executive Officer, David Kol, along with his team of technicians.

During the visit, the Mines and Energy Team which was led by three Deputy Ministers, two Assistant Ministers and other Senior Technicians, visited and inspected the drilled core storage and correlated drilled sample results from reputable laboratories.

The team also inspected sites for exploration activities, including trenches, preserved drilled holes, etc.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy notes that this exercise is a normal routine that is applied to every other exploration company that makes a request for a Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) in line with the Exploration Regulations of 2010 and the New Minerals and Mining Law of 2000. 

Members of the Ministry’s technical team included William S. Hines, Deputy Minister for Operations; Fahnseth B. Mulbah, Deputy Minister for Planning, Research and Development; Oliver S. Gbegbe, Assistant Minister for Mineral Exploration and Environmental Research;  Carlos Edison Tingban, Assistant Minister for Mines;  Anthony Kullie, Director, Liberia Geological Survey (LGS); Alwell Aloysius Carr, Director of Mines;  Medecy Hessou, Assistant Director, LGS; Koakun Emmanuel Myers, Chief Geologist, and James Smith, Chief Mining Engineer, etc.

Government of Liberia welcomed, according to a release, said noted that while the growing interest in Liberia’s mineral potential and investment prospects as being critical for job creation, improving the living conditions of citizens, and overall growth and development of the economy, the process for acquiring a Class ‘A’ Mining License requires thorough scrutiny.

Applications for Mineral Development Agreements must therefore demonstrate the capacity to carry out mineral production in an economically viable and sustainably efficient manner.