Mineral Resources of Africa

Note: this post is really, really long; I tried to make it as concise as possible, but there's so much info! :)

Even though many of its countries are impoverished, Africa has many mines reaping useful metals and valuable gemstones! Oil is harnessed in North Africa and around the shores of the Gulf of Guinea, particularly in NIGERIA & GABON. Natural gas fields are mainly found in ALGERIA & EQUATORIAL GUINEA, while coal fields are found in Southern Africa.

~ Southern Africa ~
Diamonds are mined mainly throughout SOUTH AFRICA, LESOTHO, BOTSWANA, NAMIBIA, & in northeastern ANGOLA. ZAMBIA has large deposits of copper and produces cobalt, a by-product of copper; Botswana & South Africa mines copper as well. Namibia & South Africa are sources of uranium. The mining of phosphates in Southern Africa is predominantly found in South Africa near Cape Town. Iron and gold is found mainly in ZIMBABWE & South Africa, but is produced in Botswana as well. Tin is still mined in Namibia, but not to the capacity that a 'tin boom' of many years ago produced.

~ Central Africa ~
Copper and cobalt is produced in southern DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, which is also the source for diamonds (along with CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC) and tin (along with CAMEROON). Gabon is a major source for manganese.

~ Western Africa ~
Mineral resources in Western Africa include iron in IVORY COAST, LIBERIA, & MAURITANIA, diamonds in GUINEA, GHANA, & Ivory Coast, gold in southern MALI, southern NIGER, Guinea & Ghana, bauxite in Ghana, Guinea, & SIERRA LEONE, tin in Nigeria, and phosphates in BENIN & SENEGAL.

~ East Africa ~
UGANDA mines copper, BURUNDI mines tin, & TANZANIA is a great source for diamonds and other precious gems, like tanzanite. Gold is produced in ETHIOPIA, SUDAN, & Tanzania. East Africa is certainly being explored for more resources.

~ North Africa ~
Oil and natural gas reserves have undoubtedly provided economic benefits to North Africa. In addition, iron ore and iron is found in MOROCCO, TUNISIA, ALGERIA, LIBYA, & EGYPT, steel is produced in Tunisia, Libya, & Egypt, phosphates are found in Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, & Egypt, copper is mined in Morocco, and uranium is found in northern Niger.

To learn about the countries that I've mentioned, take a visit to my Countries page, which is accessible via the tab underneath my blog's header image!