SAMCO
Somali American Minerals Company

Bridging the United States and the Horn of Africa through mineral investment, deal structuring, and strategic advisory.

Who We Are

Somali American Minerals Company, trading as SAMCO, is a United States mineral investment and advisory firm based in Washington, D.C. We originate, structure and build mineral projects across the Horn of Africa — and bring United States capital and institutional partners into them. Our work to date has been concentrated in Somaliland.

SAMCO is American in its corporate form, compliance posture and access to capital — and Somali in its origin, language and understanding of how things are built on the ground. We work at the point where projects become investable: clean title, defensible technical work, compliant supply chains, credible operators and auditable governance.

Our near-term focus is gold and mineral processing, extending to tantalum, niobium, lithium, manganese and uranium — all named on the United States List of Critical Minerals — across the pegmatite systems and basement terrane of Somaliland. At a time when reducing dependence on foreign-controlled critical mineral supply chains is a national priority, SAMCO sits at the center of that opportunity.

From Opportunity to Investable Project

SAMCO works across the full arc of a mineral project — origination, structuring, processing, capital and compliance — bringing both regional access and transactional discipline to move opportunities from the ground to close.

01 — Project Development
Originating and structuring projects to the standard an institutional investor requires — clean title, defensible technical work, compliant supply chain, credible operators and auditable governance — so investment survives scrutiny rather than depends on enthusiasm.
02 — Processing Infrastructure
Building modern plants that convert ore from licensed and artisanal producers into a saleable, verifiable, exportable product — closing the single largest value gap in the sector, where value is currently captured abroad.
03 — Capital Formation
Bringing projects to United States and international markets — listed companies, institutional resource investors and development finance — structured to meet the disclosure and reporting thresholds those markets require.
04 — Technical Standards
Commissioning exploration and resource work from independent international consultancies that hold no equity in what they assess, reporting to internationally accepted standards.
05 — Government Advisory
Advising on engagement with the United States Government, regulatory compliance, and the standards required for American institutional participation.
Standing & Capability

American standing. A United States limited liability company organised in the State of Wyoming and subject to U.S. law — able to contract with American agencies and hold relationships with listed companies and financing institutions.

Washington access. Leadership includes a United States Public Diplomacy Envoy appointed by the Secretary of State, with two decades at the highest levels of American policy and current leadership of a U.S. critical minerals association.

Somali standing. SAMCO's co-founder is of Somali origin, with the language, family and community standing to work directly with communities, elders and administrations rather than through intermediaries.

African discovery record. Our technical team has run belt-scale exploration across Africa for major international producers, including discovery-team roles on gold targets converted into producing ounces.

Build capability. Direct experience delivering infrastructure in demanding environments to United States federal standards — the binding constraint in Somaliland is construction and operations, not geology.

Already on the ground. Our technical team has travelled to Somaliland, conducted field due diligence and met government representatives.

Leadership & Team
Hamza Wardere
Strategy & Structuring
Leads SAMCO's strategy, government engagement and transaction structuring, and is founder and CEO of Cleanport. Born in Somalia and raised in Washington, D.C., he has worked in international development for the United States Government in the Horn of Africa and as a real estate developer in Washington, D.C. He serves on the executive board of JASON Learning, the U.S. STEM education non-profit.
Adam Falkoff
Policy & Government Advisory
Over twenty years in public policy, diplomacy and international business development, advising heads of state, ministers and Fortune 100 chief executives. Appointed by the U.S. Secretary of State as a Public Diplomacy Envoy, he is interim President of RARE, The Association for Rare Earth, and sits on the boards of several publicly listed resource companies. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Frederick Berndt
Capital Markets & Corporate Finance
A capital markets veteran with more than thirty years of public-market, investment and transactional experience. He has held leadership roles in dozens of initial public offerings, mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance transactions across multiple continents, with a focus on mining, oil and gas, and food and water technologies.
James Rogers
Mining & Exploration
Eighteen years in mining and exploration, with projects taken to market on the Canadian, American, U.K. and Australian exchanges and operations in more than fifty countries. Since 2017 he has transacted over 250 resource properties. His focus on small-scale production and structured ore purchasing is the capability Somaliland requires to formalise existing informal production.
Mark Garagan
Exploration Geology
Twelve years in the mining industry across more than fifteen countries, principally in Africa. He was part of the discovery team at B2Gold's Anaconda, Adder and Mamba targets in Mali and contributed to the ounces added at the Fekola Project. His specialisation in orogenic gold is directly transferable to the Precambrian basement of Somaliland.
How We Operate

Data as a national asset. Geological data generated under any government-facing programme is owned by the relevant ministry and released publicly.

Value added in country. Processing and beneficiation inside the host country, so value is captured, measured and taxed there rather than abroad.

Formalisation, not displacement. Artisanal and small-scale miners treated as suppliers to be brought into the legal economy through transparent ore purchasing.

Local employment and skills. Priority to nationals in employment, with structured technical training in geology, sampling, laboratory practice and plant operation.

Environmental responsibility. Water, waste and tailings management and site rehabilitation addressed in project design rather than after the fact, with support for mercury-free processing among artisanal producers.

International compliance. Operating to the standards required of United States corporations — responsible sourcing, chain of custody and anti-corruption.

Transparency. Reporting activities, partners and results to the relevant ministry on an agreed schedule.

News & Announcements
  • Basanite Inc. (OTCQB: BASA), a publicly traded company, signs term sheet to invest $2 million in Somaliland gold processing operations through partnership with Eastman Minerals and SAMCO June 24, 2026

We welcome inquiries from media, government, business partners, and investors.

Location
Hargeisa, Somaliland
Washington, D.C., USA

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