There we were, a group of five professionals;

Kevin Burgess, with wife Sue, British, Jr. Geologist
Ken ? (fatal memory loss) with wife and two small children, British, Surveyor
Terry Sweeney with wife Sheila, British (Wales), Tunneling Supervisor
Older Indian fellow with wife (another memory loss), British, Laboratory Supervisor
Yours Truly, Swedish, Chief Geologist

to undertake a comprehensive exploration campaign with the target to prove sufficient quantities of high-grade iron ore that would justify the start up of an iron ore mine at this beautiful mountain called Nimba.

The modest intention with this write up is only to tell those who were not there, how things can be at such a remote place and, secondly, to get those involved to respond with tales (or criticisms) and photos. The author's own photos are unfortunately presently locked up in a container in California.

Of course there was big business behind: Mifergui-Nimba, the client, and the contractor, Kaiser Engineers out of Oakland, California. Mifergui-Nimba represented the Guinean government and a number of interested parties from Europe and Africa.

Before the resident group of five arrived on site, a lot of groundwork had already been done. The Project Manager, Bob Robillard, was assisted by a number of individuals at KE Head office in California but also by people from KE's London office. Mostly involved, before the start of the field work, were the geologists Mike Morgans and Harold Knutson. By one reason or another their relation with the client had gone a bit awry and so they were leaving the scene.

The first camp, located at elevation 1500 meters, was built five-six years earlier during a UN led limited exploration campaign. Simple brick houses for two, that also served as offices, were fully adequate at this stage. To get hot water for a late shower, means were installed behind the houses and consisted of an upright oil barrel, through which a wide pipe was inserted. below, dripping diesel was ignited and the hot air passing through the chimney, eventually got the water pleasingly warm. Waiting time for the water to warm up was spent on the doorstep, sipping the customary pre-dinner drinks and sucking the pipes while contemplating life in general and Guinea in particular.

The messhall, a larger open-sided thatched building, located a few steps from our houses, was run by an indigenous chef. If I remember correctly, no one ever got sick to the stomach despite a very primitive kitchen (or thanks to that). He was faithful to his task to feed us, particularly after one occasion, when his eyes really got bad in the permanently smoky kitchen, and we had the right eye drops. Special dinner nights to remember were the ones during the rainy season when the smoke lay thick under the ceiling and low-watt bare bulbs cast a dim light over the dinner table. Off the roof there was a curtain of water, enlightened by flashes and accompanied by the sound of the heavy tropical rain. The food could barely be seen but tasted really great by help of the local hotpepper.

Months later we moved to a lower elevation to a newly built camp where the houses were more spacious and there was also a modern messhall. Accompanying families could now arrive. The house standard was simple but the craftsmanship left a lot to desire. A struggle now started to get the resident client to make necessary repair works but often both tools and spares were not available to him. To make things worse, unrealistic demands from some members of the group did not make things easier. Maybe only hardened bachelors used to field conditions should be on a project like this. After all, the campaign was only to last some 15 months.

During the 15 months of field work very few cases of serious illness affected us. Except for common colds, the only grave case was Terry being downed by malaria. Malaria was quite common in the area so everybody took medicine to resist attacks. But Terry was in a poor shape for some days before we realized that he could have contracted malaria.

Late afternoon, Terry, Sheila and I, headed for Liberia and Lamco's hospital in Yekepa, 50 km away, hoping that the border controls, three in all on the Guinea side, would let us through without too much fuss this time. It was dark before we came to the first stop, customs. A few kilometers further, the military and again, further down the road, the final check, the police. However, seeing Terry's condition they were all sympathetic and let us through quickly. On the Liberian side, a lot easier with only one check point. Terry was tested positive for malaria and pumped full of medicine. He recovered quite fast and was within a week back in the tunnels. We promised him to make the trip sooner next time. Luckily no relapses for Terry. On the way back to Guinea, we dropped cases of soft drinks at all the check points.

Wildlife at the site was not extensive. The only mammal that could be observed was a group of Rock Hyrax. Any monkeys in the area were to be found either in the market stalls (smoked) or alive in small isolated territories away from inhabited areas. Anything else was hunted close to extinction like the small antelope. Snakes and scorpions were around but rarely seen. Well, one snake had one night found comfort in one of my boots standing outside the house. I guess we were equally surprised early next morning.

Life after dark was less than exciting. Our group was a bit heterogeneous in the way that there was this mixture of one young family with two small children, one young couple, two mature couples and one or several bachelors. This contributed to a group that not always agreed on everything. For a while bridge was the standard game for the evening with Kevin as motor. Weekends could be spent in Yekepa (Liberia) but were of course not for free. As I had earlier worked for Lamco, I had the advantage to know both the organization and the people. This facilitated the communication with our head office (in those days by telex) and also to get spareparts and other necessities for our project. All food/drink supplies were bought in Yekepa where we also collected our mail. Anything going through Conakry (Guinea) could be awfully slow so we were quite lucky to be this close to the border.

The coredrilling was carried out by a Yugoslav drilling company. Five rigs were in operation 24 hours a day which meant a lot of cores to be logged by us and our Guinean counterparts. The Yugoslavs were a hardworking bunch that only shut down the machines when the frequent thunderstorms during the rainy season swept over the mountain. Thanks to very good cooperation between the management of Yugoslavs and us, this work went, by and large, quite smoothly and we could part as good friends at the end of the project.

A good number of people were involved in this project and some came to work in the field at a later stage. Ilmar Kurrusk with family came to help out to run the program. John Chulick, a geologist who also became, and has remained, a good friend, arrived to take part in the mapping of the deposit. Art Moore worked on the mining plans but stayed with us only a short time. In early 1978, the Laboratory Supervisor left and was replaced, first by two Canadians and later by John Tollfree (easygoing British gentleman with a fine British humor).

During April through June 1978, one after the other left the camp after completed assignment and I, as one of the last persons, left late June, heading for Oakland to work on the final report. Now, more than 20 years later, the mountain remains as we left it, green in the rainy season and golden in the dry season. Our roads are now grown over and the hundreds of coreboxes most likely eaten up by hungry termites. I can only hope that memories are pleasant for all those who worked in the field despite times of misgivings and hardship.

To those who read this and to those who were there, if you have any comments and/or, posses photos, contact the writer under email address:

Written by Thomas Johannesson in Abha, Saudi Arabia, December 1999.