Community and social relations were very much to the fore Aureus Mining’s latest big splash news release, announcing the formal opening of its New Liberty mine in Liberia.

That this was a big deal not just for Aureus but for Liberia was clear enough from the calibre of the guest list at the opening.

Not only was the minister of mines present, but the President of Liberia herself, the well respected and economically-literate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

The primary function of the event was to set the official seal on production from Liberia’s first ever commercial mine.

But there was more to it than that.

Also on show were the benefits that New Liberty is already bringing to the country.

“Mrs Sirleaf is delighted”, says Aureus chief David Reading.

“She gave a good speech, highlighting that we’re doing a lot of things the government wanted us to do. For one thing, we’re employing a lot of Liberians. If you staff these things with a lot of expats the skills never get spread around.”

That’s why Aureus made sure that 90 per cent of its construction workforce was from Liberia, and has given assurances that 80 per cent of its operational team will also be employed locally.

But there’s more to it than that.

For a start, there was Aureus’s response to Ebola.

The company took all reasonable precaution and, in spite of the panic spreading around the world, carried on with construction.

It took a steady nerve to do that but even during the height of the epidemic, David remained unflustered - the mark of an old Africa hand.

It was, he says, all about ensuring that strict protocols were in place, and that they were adhered to.

The enemy? – Ebola, yes. But also fear.

“One of the challenges we face in West Africa is fear,” he says. “It’s helpful not to panic. If you calmly put systems in place these things can be mitigated. You need to progress from fear to healthy respect and to making our people feel safe.”

Safe enough to carry on building and complete the mine.

It’s a doggedness and firmness of purpose that didn’t go unnoticed, and which has bought the company widespread respect in country.

With any luck, though, Ebola was a one-off situation.

For the longer term, Aureus has been hard at work too.

In the past couple of years the company has been active in the maintenance and refurbishment of wells in the local community, and has supplied medical support on occasion where needed.

It’s also provided first aid training programmes and conducts an ongoing anti-malarial programme with the local village which includes the provision of mosquito nets.

Meanwhile, in education, two schools have been built and three more refurbished, and the salaries of 16 teachers has been paid.

The company also sponsors 30 geology and mining degrees per year, and currently employs six Liberian geology graduates.

In other work, 300 people have been trained in housebuilding and other construction skills. Cooperatives for brick-making and carpentry have been established, and for farming too.

Indeed, it was the farming cooperative that was of particular interest to Mrs Sirleaf at the mine opening.

As part of the ceremonial she toured the Hope for Tomorrow Agricultural Training College, set up and funded by Aureus.

This trains members of the local community in sustainable agricultural methods, including fruit and vegetable production, fish farming and animal husbandry.

Not a bad track record for a company that’s yet to generate meaningful cashflows.

Those are about to come though, and with them the long-term sustainable funding that’s always a crucial aspect to ensuring such projects have a lasting and enduring impact.