Mining in Africa

Africa’s mineral industry is the largest in the world. Africa is a continent richly endowed with mineral reserves. It ranks first or second in quantity of world reserves of bauxite, cobalt, industrial diamond, phosphate rock, platinum-group metals (PGM), vermiculite, and zirconium. Gold mining remains Africa's main mining resource.

For many African countries, mineral exploration and production constitute significant parts of their economies and remain keys to economic growth.

International investors looking for long-term gains in Africa often look to mining. While mining is a drawcard, many African countries experience political and economic turmoil. These are red flags for most investors.

Several African mining companies are expanding their operations abroad and there have been a number of mergers and acquisitions across the African mining sector.

There are certainly developments across the continent and an Africa Mining IQ subscription keeps you in the know ...

New projects index

Exploring Africa’s Natural Wealth

The African continent is home to an abundance of natural resources that include diamonds, gold, oil, natural gas, uranium, platinum, copper, cobalt, iron, bauxite, silver among others.

Even though the world is fuelled by commodity consumption, there is so much natural wealth on the continent that a great deal of it is unused. Africa’s resources are largely untapped and the deposits are so abundant that some of it has yet to be discovered.

Natural resources from Africa have a myriad practical applications, including industrial, manufacturing, medical, energy, and infrastructure development. The natural resources in Africa are used practically in many industries and in many countries every day.

Metals exported from Africa include uranium, platinum, nickel, bauxite and cobalt. Two of the most profitable mineral exports are gold and diamonds. The continent can produce close to 500 tons of gold a year. Africa generally produces around half of the world's diamonds, however this has increased in recent years to over 75%.

Africa Mining IQ, Africa's largest online mining database

Many African countries are highly dependent on mineral exports. Mineral fuels (coal, petroleum) account for more than 90% of the export earnings for Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, and Nigeria. Minerals account for 80% for Botswana (diamond, copper, nickel, soda ash, and gold), Congo (Brazzaville) (petroleum), Congo (Kinshasa) (diamond, petroleum, cobalt, and copper), Gabon (petroleum and manganese), Guinea (bauxite, alumina, gold, and diamond), Sierra Leone (diamond), and Sudan (petroleum and gold).

Project Contact Information

Africa Mining IQ is the ONLY African mining intelligence database that guarantees a key contact per mine owner / project engineer or project supplier. All African mining projects are carefully researched and verified by a team of researchers.

Africa Mining IQ Reporting

In depth analysis reports delve into African mining project statistics such as number of projects per region per phase, and have been created for you to download and use for tendering and project tracking purposes.

Tracking and reporting on African mines and African mining projects is part of the mining intelligence service available.

Over 170 companies rely on Africa Mining IQ to help them drive business within the African mining industry.

The Africa Mining IQ Assurance

Africa Mining IQ, Africa's largest online mining database, is an essential intelligence partner for anyone wanting to grow their business in the African mining industry, be they investors, suppliers or contractors.

Our database contains essential information on mining in Africa, as well as information on mining in specific African countries. All of this information includes key contact details, estimated output values and project timelines. These are updated daily to ensure our subscribers receive the most current information.

Click here to find out how a subscription to Africa Mining IQ can benefit your company.

Total Projects

AMIQ Bankable Projects

For easy categorising of our listed projects, Africa Mining IQ has divided the African continent into mining hubs, some of which differ from established geographical locations. These hubs consist of Southern Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, West Africa, North Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Potential investors may be interested to note that the mining hubs across Africa have the following number of projects listed as bankable: Southern Africa 9, Central Africa 5, East Africa 24, West Africa 5, and the Indian Ocean 1.

AMIQ Active Projects

The number of active mines in these hubs, including those in construction phases, is recorded as Southern Africa 47, Central Africa 6, East Africa 11, West Africa 14, North Africa 1.

AMIQ Total Projects

The total number of projects for each hub, which includes both bankable and active projects as well as those categorised as grass roots, prefeasibility, feasibility and operational are: Southern Africa 693, Central Africa 188, East Africa 456, West Africa 576, North Africa 27 and the Indian Ocean also 48.

Used by over 170 businesses to grow their operations across the continent, Africa Mining IQ give our subscribers:

Africa Mining IQ subscribers have access to:

key contact details for mine owners, EPCM companies and project suppliers and engineers
unequalled project intelligence: accurate, reliable and relevant project information on mining in Africa, including status, costs and tendering opportunities
opportunities for online collaboration: liaise with your work colleagues and contacts and ensure you target and meet the tender requirements in your business areas.
real-time charting and analysis: identify, track and monitor growth and progress for mining in Africa projects.
Email notifications of updated mining in Africa projects and news
Easy-to-use dashboard
A built-in currency converter to accurately calculate capital and exploration values

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Number of projects

Past Developments, Future Expectations

As the continent’s largest intelligence database for mining in Africa, Africa Mining IQ is your no. 1 resource for information and key contact details for new projects, ongoing progress on existing mines and new tenders! With over 1 850 projects on record, Africa Mining IQ allows investors, tenders and suppliers to keep their finger on the pulse of mining in Africa.

North Africa

North Africa has considerable mineral and metal resources, providing huge potential from a mining investment perspective. Unfortunately, much of its mining infrastructure is underdeveloped. This can be attributed to political instability, which has restricted foreign investment and mining activity taking place on a significant commercial scale.

Southern Africa

Africa Mining IQ has comprehensive information on all projects in all countries in this region. In Botswana, diamond mining has always been at the core of the mining industry. Now that the government is diversifying from the diamond sector into predominantly coal projects, foreign investment is encouraged. Industry value will be driven by a government-led ramp-up in coal production and it is envisaged that while the diamond sector will remain the dominant contributor to the country’s industry value, it will experience stagnant growth.

East Africa

Zambia’s mining industry, it is envisaged, will steadily expand until 2026. This can be attributed to trending higher prices of key minerals and a favourable regulatory environment, which will drive an increase in mining investment and activity.

West Africa

This region’s growth prospects picked up during the course of 2017 due to improved commodity prices and Chinese demand. The various countries within this African mining hub have vast untapped mineral reserves and a positive foreign investment outlook. This contributes to the region’s promising long-term growth outlook.

Central Africa

The majority of the Central African mining sector is still at an embryonic stage of development, but there is significant potential for growth in the extraction of copper, gold, iron ore and other minerals. The iron ore sector, still a fledgling in this regional hub, is concentrated in the DRC, Congo-Brazzaville and Cameroon.

Browse mining in Africa by country:

From South Africa to Morocco, Africa Mining IQ covers the continent’s mining projects with up-to-date intelligence. Our mining in Africa database covers 38 countries, including:

Annual comparison of projects for Africa

Largest Mining Projects in Africa

Some of the largest mining in Africa projects include:

Ruighoek Mine (South Africa): This project has a capital value of over R 40 billion. A refurbishment of an older mine, it’s expected to produce 150 000 to 200 000 tons of chrome per year. It is located north of Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa.

Kinsevere Mine (DRC): This copper mine has a capital value of over R 30 billion. It is an open-pit mine that has a current Life of Mine expected to run until 2024. It uses conventional solvent extraction / electrowinning in the copper mining process.

Liganga Iron Ore Project (Tanzania): The Liganga Iron Ore Project, located near the City of Njonbe, commenced production in late 2016. Tanzania is the continent’s third largest producer of iron ore – which is a R 17 billion+ project incorporating the Mchuchuma coal mining project.

Glenover Project (South Africa): This exciting project, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, is an exploration of the rare earth minerals potential of pit material and surface stockpiles that were accrued during phosphate-based mining operations from 1963 to 1984.

*Acknowledgements to Moody’s as reported in BusinessLive and BMI Research. Some of the information contained in this article is sourced from BMI Research executive summaries and from BusinessLive.

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Mining in Africa: minerals by numbers

Gold mining in Africa is the largest source of gold across the world. In addition to gold, diamond mining in Africa and copper mining in Africa are also key mineral reserves for the world economy. Included in our mining in Africa database are the following:

804 gold projects
165 industrial projects
164 coal projects

100 PGM projects
99 iron ore projects
145 copper projects

140 diamond projects
122 uranium projects
44 nickel projects

This is just a selection of the minerals that comprise our mining in Africa intelligence database.

Get an Africa Mining IQ Subscription Today

All mining in Africa intelligence is subject to a stringent quality control process. Only once information is evaluated and approved, does Africa Mining IQ make it available to its subscribers.

Africa Mining IQ is used by over 170 mining companies globally as a reputable and comprehensive mining in Africa intelligence database that stretches from specific details of mining companies in Africa to details on small and large mining projects throughout Africa.

With a subscription to Africa Mining IQ, a wealth of knowledge is available at a mere click of a button. Through this unique offering on mining in Africa, you can select and track key African mining projects to follow Identify any new or potential mining in Africa projects across various stages of development – from pre-feasibility to completion.

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