Looking at the state of affairs in Africa, few people would suspect that this is the richest continent - in terms of mineral resources - on earth.
Africa has the world's richest concentration of minerals and gems. In South Africa alone, the Bushveld Complex which is about 2 billion years old is one of the largest masses of igneous rock on Earth. It contains major deposits of the so-called strategic metals such as chromium, platinum and vanadium — metals that are indispensable in tool making and high-tech industrial processes.
The Great Dyke, Kimberlite Pipes: Home to Chromium, Asbestos, and Nickel
According to archeologists, another spectacular intrusion of magmatic rocks composed of olivine, augite, and hypersthenes occurred in the Archean Eon over 2.5 billion years ago in the area now known as Zimbabwe today. Called the Great Dyke, it contains substantial deposits of chromium, asbestos, and nickel. Indeed, almost all of the world's chromium reserves are found in Africa.
Chromium is used to harden alloys, to produce stainless steel, as an industrial catalyst, and to provide corrosion resistance. Unique eruptions that occurred during the Cretaceous in southern and central Africa, formed Kimberlite pipes - vertical, near-cylindrical rock bodies caused by deep melting in the upper mantle of the Earth. Kimberlite pipes are the main source of gem and industrial diamonds in Africa.
Diamond Reserves: From Angola to Namibia
Africa alone contains 40% of the world's diamond reserves, which occur in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, and Zaire (USGS). Sizable deposits were recently discovered in Sierra Leone, a nation of 5 million people on the west coast of Africa.
Diamond was the main reason for the civil war in Sierra Leone that lasted well over a decade. This war, largely funded by international diamond merchants from abroad, used ignorant locals to jockey for turf dominance; hundreds of thousands perished during this carnage.
Uranium, Cobalt and Gold: From Côte d'Ivoire to Zimbabwe
Still in South Africa, uranium is to be found side-by-side with gold, greatly decreasing the costs of production. Uranium deposits are also found in Niger, Gabon, Zaire, and Namibia. South Africa alone contains half the world's gold reserves. Mineral deposits of gold also occur in Zimbabwe, Zaire, and Ghana. Alluvial gold (eroded from soils and rock strata by rivers) can be found in Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, and Gabon.
As for other minerals, half of the world's cobalt is in Zaire and a continuation into Zimbabwe of Zairian cobalt-bearing geological formations gives the former country sizable reserves of cobalt as well. One quarter of the world's aluminum ore is found in the coastal belt of West Africa, stretching 1,200 mi (1,920 km) from Guinea to Togo, with the largest reserves in Guinea.
Coal and Petroleum: From Algeria to Zaire
Major coal deposits exist in Southern Africa, North Africa, Zaire, and Nigeria. And North Africa is awash in petroleum reserves, particularly in Libya, Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia. Nigeria is the biggest petroleum producer in West Africa, but Cameroon, Gabon, and the Congo also contain oil reserves. There are also petroleum reserves in southern Africa, chiefly in Angola.
Iron: From Gabon to Mauritania
Most of Africa's iron reserves are in western Africa, with the most significant deposits in and around Liberia, Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, and Mauritania. In West Africa as well as in South Africa where iron deposits are also found, the ore is bound up in Precambrian rock strata.
Not all wars in Africa are linked to mineral resources or foreign interests, but in most cases, they are. That an African living in Africa should be poverty-stricken and wretched in the face of abundance and mineral wealth underneath the continent, is a testimonial to the twin power of exploitation and ignorance.
References:
USGS: "USGS Minerals Information for Africa and the Middle East", 2006
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development:"Development in Africa Series", 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment