In this entire universe, a bunch of treasurable elements is hidden beneath the surface of Africa. Whether they are there by choice, or are there based on the order of the principle of nature, or the indefatigable principle of the universe, what matters most and is more important is the fact that a bunch of treasurable elements recognized as Mineral resources is beneath the African soil.
The awareness of the existence of mineral resources hidden or rather dwelling in the African soil is one of the major reasons behind the scramble and the partition for Africa at the eighteen eighty-four Berlin conference, or Congo conference, which increased the colonization of African countries by the European powers after bilateral agreements.
In this work, our focus will be on the art of mining in Africa, and more importantly, we will be showing you at least ten amazing facts about mining in Africa. It will certainly be a sweet ride, so stick with us on this.
The Art of Mining in Africa
We did not in the introductory section of this article give examples of these treasurable elements, or mineral resources that usually make Africa the center of attraction for European powers and world-evolving powers. This section will be revealing these mineral resources, as well as elaborate on the art of mining in Africa.
Here is a list of some mineral resources and their possible locations in Africa.
- Oil and gas
- Nickel and Uranium
- Iron ore
And many more forest and mineral resources.
Possible locations for oil and gas in Africa:
Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and Mozambique
Possible location for Gold in Africa:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Mali, South Africa, Tanzania, and Nigeria.
Possible location for Diamond in Africa:
Botswana, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola
We will stop here on the listing of possible locations and unfold the art of mining in a few succeeding lines.
What is Mining?
Mining is the wrenching out of valuable materials, mineral resources, or natural resources from the earth; or rather beneath the earth’s surface as the case may be. These valuable materials after going through some processes become mineralized commodities that could be very useful or economical to the miner. For instance, while mining for iron ore, the first thing that is found is pig iron. The pig iron is cleaned up and put in the furnace where it is heated up until it is refined or processed into iron ore.
The art of mining requires patience, consistency, and first-class level expertise to achieve results. More so, some machines or equipment are implored to ascertain the location of given mineral resources.
Ten Amazing Facts about Mining in Africa
The introduction of this article, and the other preceding sections, have built the foundation for this particular section, which is the crux or rather the subject matter of this article. So in this section, we will talk about the amazing facts of mining. Remember that we cannot talk about these facts without some touches on the economy so if you read a few facts about the economy in between, don’t consider an error or a miswriting because mining in Africa has its impacts on the African economy and culture too. The scramble and partition for Africa in eighteen eighty-four (1884) should be a clue or a better illustration for the point I am trying to buttress here.
So below is a carefully compiled list of ten amazing facts about mining in Africa:
- The mining business could be Africa’s jackpot
- Africa has an aviation problem limits the mining industry
- Africa has one of the largest diamond mine
- Africa is estimated to have the fastest economic growth than any other continent
- Africa has one of the world largest gold mine
- Largest mining investments
- Africa is the home of mineral resources
- Africa has the biggest oil producing countries
- Africa has the largest reserves of precious metals
- Every human being is always in touch with mineral resources from Africa
The mining business could be Africa’s jackpot:
Although politics, resource constraints, and infrastructure limitations have held intra-Africa trade to just eleven percent which is beneath the expected output, that output is changing now, because with more pan-African companies and leaders promoting free trade across, and within the continents five major trading blocs especially with the fast-rising mining outputs, the problem of politics could be solved and resources will be made available.
Africa has an aviation problem that limits the mining industry:
In most African countries, aviation is a deeply troubled industry and as a result, the continent has been surveyed to have less than one percent of the global air service market despite having more than twelve percent of the world’s population, and huge mining industry.
Africa’s sheer size, a lack of suitable airports, and a limited range of choices for transport connections make business aviation more vital in Africa to economic growth than in other regions of the world.
Did you know that proximity and transportation problems could hinder economic growth?
Africa has one of the largest diamond mines
Growing up I did not think diamonds could ever be found in Africa, especially because in my part of the world, diamonds were barely talked about except in movies; Hollywood movies though until recently. So I judged the rest of the continent from my tiny corner.
It is with great excitement that I announce this news as an amazing fact in this article.
Did you know that six percent of the world’s diamond production occurs in Africa and is led by Botswana with thirty-five percent, and The Congo (Kinshasha) follows up with thirty-four percent of Africa’s production or diamond mining?
Now you do!
Africa is estimated to have the fastest economic growth of any other continent
What an irony that Africa is regarded to have a rapid increase in the poverty rate, yet Harvard business reviews reveal that Africa’s economy is valued at two trillion US Dollars overall, with faster economic growth than any other continent; about one-third of the fifty-four African countries are seeing annual Gross Domestic Production (GDP) growth of greater than six percent.
Africa has one of the world largest gold mines:
Another interesting or rather amazing fact is that twenty-one percent of the world’s gold production occurs in Africa. However, there is a variance in ratio and production in some African countries. For instance, it has been discovered that South Africa has fifty-six percent of Africa’s overall production, while Ghana thirteen has thirteen percent of Africa’s overall production, yet Ghana is the leading producer of Gold in Africa even with its rating as thirteen percent.
Largest mining investments:
This is one amazing fact about mining in Africa because billions of US Dollars of foreign investment have poured into the African mining industry over the past nineteen years since the conception of the annual conference regarding mining investments in Africa.
Africa is the home of mineral resources:
Research has shown that Africa has approximately thirty percent of the earth’s remaining mineral resources. So Africa is the world’s second-largest continent covering about over thirty million square kilometers, which also shows its capacity to have an abode for mineral resources.
Africa has the biggest oil-producing countries:
Crude oil is a mineral resource sought by most countries in the world because of its usefulness.
Interestingly, Nigeria is the fourth-largest oil exporter in the world, and Africa’s biggest oil producer with about two point two million barrels produced every day.
Moreover, Africa has so many oil-producing countries that also export oil. These countries include the following: Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo, Gabon, South Africa.
Africa has the largest reserves of precious metals
The National Geographic newsroom, in a research article, revealed that the continent of Africa has the largest reserves of precious metals harboring more than forty percent (40%) of the gold reserves, more than sixty percent (60%) of the cobalt, and about ninety percent (90%) of the platinum reserves. These metals are literally used in the production of objects or utensils used in homes, at school, at work, or practically everywhere.
Maybe museums need to pick some of these and store them for the sake of tourism which would also result in good economic growth.
Every human being is always in touch with mineral resources from Africa
Did you know that every human being is in constant contact with mineral resources from Africa?
This is simply because everything is made out of something, so if a thing is not grown, it is either mined or recycled, and afterward it is processed for use. Think about anything you use at all, your mobile phone, laptops, jewelry, utensils, metals, and what have you! They are all products of mineral resources, and chances are that they were gotten from Africa.
A lot is to be known about mining in Africa, but most importantly, you should know that the continent of Africa, filled with many countries, is wealthy in natural resources. For a better guide to investing or mining in Africa, the Shikana group will lead you every step on the way