Sierra Leone is a resource-rich country, with extensive known and potential mineral and petroleum
resources. However, knowledge about the geology of the country is limited, with very little modern
data in the public domain, and this hinders sustainable development of these resources for the
national good. The lack of data is now being addressed by the Extractive Industries Technical
Assistance Programme Phase 2 (EITAP 2) which is funded by the World Bank, and which aims
to deliver a national airborne geophysical survey and subsequent geological mapping of the
country (World Bank, 2017).
Alongside EITAP 2, the UK government is funding the British Geological Survey (BGS) to work
in partnership with relevant institutions in Sierra Leone, including the National Minerals Agency
(NMA), the Petroleum Directorate (PD) and Fourah Bay College (FBC), to build their capacity to
collect, manage and disseminate geological data. As part of that work, a field reconnaissance was
carried out across Sierra Leone in January 2018 to assess the state of current geological mapping,
visit mines and exploration projects, and to discuss how best to plan and carry out a mapping
programme. The field trip was led by three British Geological Survey (BGS) staff members
(Kathryn Goodenough, Jon Ford, and Darren Jones) together with 11 geologists from the NMA,
two geologists from the PD, and two staff members from the Geology Department at Fourah Bay
College. Pauline Scott and Avril Jamieson from the Department for International Development
(DFID) joined the first two days of the trip.
This report describes the conclusions arising from that field reconnaissance and associated
literature review, including a baseline assessment of the current geological mapping of Sierra
Leone, and suggestions for next steps. Some information is also derived from separate field visits
to the AMR Gold licence area in the Loko Hills (April 2017) and coastal outcrops in the Lungi
area (June 2017)