The Sierra Leone Selection Trust was formed in 1934 following an agreement between the government of
British Sierra Leone and the Consolidated African Selection Trust Ltd (CAST). CAST was formed in 1924 and was part of a much larger mining finance house
Selection Trust Ltd which had been founded in 1913 by
Alfred Chester Beatty (an American mining magnate). Although the Oppenheimers (
De Beers
The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...
) invested in CAST and its subsidiaries from the 1920s and had boardroom representation, CAST was independent of the
Oppenheimer empire. SLST corporation which had exclusive mineral mining rights in Sierra Leone beginning in 1935 was scheduled to last for 99 years. In 1955, the SLST abandoned mineral mining and settled on mining the
Yengema and
Tongo Fields. However, with the creation of the Sierra Leonean parastatal
National Diamond Mining Company in 1971, the diamond company was effectively nationalized, ending the SLST in Sierra Leone.
Sources
* Peter Greenhlagh - West African Diamonds - An economic history 1919–83.
The Heart of the Matter: Sierra Leone, Diamonds & Human Security
External links
Catalogue of the Selection Trust papersat th
of the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
.
*
SLST
SLST
1934 establishments in Sierra Leone
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1934
Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 1989
Financial services companies disestablished in 1989
Diamond mining companies of Sierra Leone
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