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- One company, RAC Incorporated,\u00a0 has an MoU with <\/em>a River Gee community, while another, Gee Mining Resources Ltd, conducts the operations\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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- Satellite imagery shows that the operations are outside Gee Mining\u2019s two claims\u00a0 in the Nyeniwroken District, a violation of the Minerals and Mining Law<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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- RAC\u2019s business registration certificate expired on Independence Day last year. However, it was issued an exploration license. Randy Scott, RAC\u2019s majority shareholder, is one of Liberia\u2019s most notorious miners<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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- The evidence suggests that Nelson Worjolo, Gee Mining\u2019s owner, is fronting for a non-Liberian<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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- Townspeople benefit from dredging activities on the Gee River next to Gee Mining\u2019s claims, and right under a local Ministry of Mines agent\u2019s nose<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
TARTUKEN, River Gee County \u2013 Towering trees background huge sand mounds, water-filled pits, earthmovers, plastic barrels and a fuel tank. Mineworkers operate machines, digging through the brown earth. Pipes transport water from a nearby river to large, makeshift plants, where gold nuggets are trapped in inclined carpets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This goldfield in Tartuken, Nyeniwroken District, looks like one of River Gee\u2019s 48 active regulated mines. However, official documents, satellite imagery, a Ministry of Mines repository, and interviews proved otherwise. Turns out, the mine is illegal and is linked to one of Liberia\u2019s most notorious miners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our story starts on July 10 last year, when RAC Incorporated, owned by a man named Randy Scott, signed an MoU with Tartuken\u2019s chiefs and elders. In the document, RAC promised to build a guesthouse, a clinic and pay the community US$500 each month, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company is delivering on its promises. This reporter documented three hand pumps, the five-bedroom guesthouse, while the elders confirmed that RAC paid monthly fees, including US$100 each for six teachers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the reporter noted a red flag when he interviewed townspeople. RAC had signed the MoU on behalf of Gee Mining Resources Group<\/a>, a five-month-old company with no prior mining experience. Nelson Worjolo, Gee Mining\u2019s owner, signed the document for Scott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Confronted with the finding, Scott confirmed the information in a phone interview with the reporter. He disclosed that Gee Mining conducted the actual mining, while RAC handled community projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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An excavator at work at a Gee Mining mine in Tartuken, River Gee County. The DayLight\/Prince Copeland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, Gee Mining and RAC are in partnership. They are the same,\u201d Scott, who holds 95 percent of RAC\u2019s shares, phoned this reporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Worjolo also confirmed the inconsistency. He said RAC had intended to conduct the operation but it had a \u201csmall issue,\u201d so Scott contacted him. He had spoken with the community about correcting the MoU but suspicious locals refused. He would rectify the issue in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elijah Toe, an elder who signed the MoU, denies Worjolo\u2019s story. \u201cNo, they never came back to tell the townspeople that they were changing the company\u2019s name from RAC to Gee Mining,\u201d said Toe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Myers Moyan, a Tartuken elder, corroborated Toe\u2019s comments. \u201cThey didn\u2019t tell us the elders the difference [between the two companies],\u201d Moyan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Hold the ground\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seeking the truth, the reporter turned to RAC and Gee Mining\u2019s documents and the Ministry of Mines and Energy repository. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The search proved Gee Mining had two medium-scale or class \u2018B\u2019 gold licenses in the Tartuken area, and RAC Incorporated\u2019s only license<\/a> is in Zorzor, Lofa County. So,\u00a0 RAC truly signed the MoU but Gee Mining conducted the operation, a red flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the repository shows that the Tartuken MoU was signed at least six months before the licenses were issued, and three months before Gee Mining prospected the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Worjolo said they signed the MoU that early because it was part of the requirements for the licenses. Asked why he signed the MoU before prospecting, he said they were sure the area had gold, which is not a requirement but is not illegal. \u201cWe did that to hold the ground first before prospecting,\u201d Worjolo said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A portion of Gee Mining\u2019s illegal gold mine in Tartuken, River Gee County. The DayLight\/Prince Copeland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Next, the reporter reviewed RAC and Gee Mining\u2019s business registration certificate. Interestingly, RAC\u2019s business registration certificate had expired on Independence Day last year and has not been renewed as of August 5. This means that RAC was ineligible for the gold-exploration license<\/a> it was awarded in January for Lofa County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gee Mining\u2019s business registration certificate and article of incorporation identify it as a Liberian company. However, the ministry\u2019s repository recognizes it as a \u201cLiberian and foreign-owned.\u201d This appears to explain why Worjolo said he needed to talk to his boss in Monrovia before talking to us. The evidence suggests he is fronting for a mysterious non-Liberian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Worjolo did not respond to queries for comments about his company\u2019s ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outside the claims<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now suspicious of everything, the reporter decided to focus on the mine\u2019s location. Was the digging inside or outside Gee Mining\u2019s claims? Is the claim this close to the river?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To answer those questions, the reporter turned once more to the Ministry of Mines\u2019 repository. There, the ministry stores maps of all medium and large mining claims. Those maps come with the shapes of the claims and coordinates, imaginary vertical and horizontal lines called longitudes and latitudes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Armed with that information, the reporter took the photographs fitted with Gee Mining\u2019s goldfield coordinates and presented them to a DayLight geolocation expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The expert uploaded the data into a certain software. Utilizing data from the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geoinformation Services (LISGIS), the expert found the location. Then he drew up a map with Google Earth<\/a>, a computer program that uses satellite imagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The map established that the mine the reporter photographed was at least 1,000 meters away from Gee Mining\u2019s claims. Even a second mine the reporter snapped was just outside the company\u2019s other claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This Google Earth map shows that Gee Mining operates outside its legal claims in Tartuken, River Gee County.\u00a0 Kenkpen Cassell Group of Companies for The DayLight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Confronted with this evidence, Worjolo said it was \u201cnot to my knowledge\u201d that his operations were outside the authorized locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott, on the other hand, suggested that Gee Mining had a small-scale license for the operations in question. However, the repository shows that neither RAC nor Gee Mining has a small-scale or class \u2018C\u2019 mining license. Even if it did, earthmovers are outlawed in small-scale claims with soft or sandy grounds as Tartuken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mining outside one\u2019s claim is a criminal offense, according to the Minerals and Mining Law. Violators face a US$2,000 fine, up to 24 months in prison, or both fine and term upon conviction by a court. The penalties could be harsher if prosecutors increased the charges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dredges on the river<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
RAC\/Gee Mining\u2019s illegal mines lie next to the Gee River, after which the county got its name in 2000. \u00a0Gee or Chee means \u201cleopard\u201d in the Grebo language, but there was no sighting of the critically endangered big cat. Instead, four dredges, rafts made of plastic barrels with machines used to suck sediments from water, decorated the muddy river. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This alerted the reporter, who was aware that dredging had been banned since 2019 due to its associated environmental harms<\/a>. From that moment, the reporter\u2019s attention switched from land to water, and the mystery began to unravel instantly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The miners operating the dredges said that they paid Tartuken\u2019s locals a weekly fee they would not say. Chiefs and elders corroborated their claim. \u201cIt is true they were asked to pay L$15,000 per canoe (dredge) but they accepted to pay L$10,000 per canoe. We have only received L$30,000, which is equivalent to three canoes,\u201d said Paul Kity, an elder spokesman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Miners conduct a slew of dredges on the Gee River in Tartuken, River Gee County. The DayLight\/Prince Copeland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The dredge operators said they paid the RAC\/Gee Mining an undisclosed amount weekly. They also paid one gram of gold or L$20,000 (US$100) monthly to Tanneh Borteh, the ministry\u2019s agent for that region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we are not paying anything, I will tell you, but we are paying dues to the mining agent, the town people, and the claim agent too,\u201d said Habib Zigi, a Ghanaian miner who operates two dredges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Worjolo, RAC\/Gee Mining\u2019s owner, denies Zigi\u2019s claim. He said he had driven the dredgers from the area on multiple occasions, but they always returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, Borteh, the ministry\u2019s agent, who also denies any wrongdoing, said the same thing. \u201cI went there and I told them to leave the water, \u2018I don\u2019t want you to lose your properties.\u2019 Since then, I have not gone there,\u201d Borteh said via mobile phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notorious illegal miner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on Gee Mining\u2019s legal documents and a desk review, Tartuken could be Worjolo\u2019s first known illegal mining operation. However, it only adds to Scott\u2019s brushes with the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2023, a DayLight investigation found that Urban and Rural Services, a company Scott has ties with, operated an illegal gold mine in Todee<\/a>, with the aid of Montserrado County officials. It found that the company ran a full-scale mining operation with a prospecting license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_4459-1024x683.jpg\")
A relative of Prince Hali, a mineworker who drowned in a mining pit left by illegal mining activities in Bella Yalla, is helped from the scene after his body was recovered in January 2024. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
- Townspeople benefit from dredging activities on the Gee River next to Gee Mining\u2019s claims, and right under a local Ministry of Mines agent\u2019s nose<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- The evidence suggests that Nelson Worjolo, Gee Mining\u2019s owner, is fronting for a non-Liberian<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- RAC\u2019s business registration certificate expired on Independence Day last year. However, it was issued an exploration license. Randy Scott, RAC\u2019s majority shareholder, is one of Liberia\u2019s most notorious miners<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Satellite imagery shows that the operations are outside Gee Mining\u2019s two claims\u00a0 in the Nyeniwroken District, a violation of the Minerals and Mining Law<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n