$25m Cash Injection for Meya Mine
February 24, 26
(IDEX Online) - Meya Mining Company has secured a $25m facility that will bring it closer to starting commercial production at its mine in Sierra Leone's Kono District.
It has agreed terms with the pan-African banking group Ecobank.
The capital will allow Meya to accelerate its transition from early development to full commercial production, funding processing equipment, mining vehicles and supporting infrastructure, and creating over 400 direct jobs.
The Ecobank facility is part of a wider capital framework, through which Meya Mining has secured a total of around $100m in funding.
Previous reports have indicated the company could recover 200,000 carats a year from Meya, an underground kimberlite dyke mine.
Kimberley Process figures show Sierra Leone's total diamond exports for 2025 were just 121,000 carats, down from 574,000 the previous year
Julius Daniel Mattai, the country's minister of mines and mineral resources, welcomed news of the facility, which was announced earlier this month at the Africa Mining Indaba, in South Africa.
It was, he said, "a landmark in our collective journey to transform Sierra Leone's rich mineral endowment into broad-based and lasting prosperity for our citizens".
Significant recoveries from bulk sampling at Meya include the 476-carat Meya Prosperity in 2017, a Type IIa gem sold to Graff Diamonds for $16.5m, and a 515-carat rough recovered in 2024 that broke into a 391-carat stone and smaller stones during handling.
Sierra Leone's diamond mining industry grapples with rampant smuggling - estimated to divert up to 80% of production historically - alongside corruption, weak oversight, and unregulated artisanal operators.
Meya Mining is 70% owned by Sterling Global Trading, which acquired its majority holding from Quinton van Rooyen's Trustco Group Holdings in July 2023.
Pic shows the Meya Prosperity.