Mining in Africa

Africa is a continent richly endowed with mineral reserves, and its mineral industry is the largest in the world.

2 of the most profitable mineral exports are gold and diamonds. Gold is the main mining resource in Africa (500 tons per year) and has, in the past, supplied 75% of the world’s diamonds. Africa also ranks 1st or 2nd in the quantity of the world’s reserves of bauxite, cobalt, phosphate rock, platinum group metals (PGM), vermiculite, and zirconium.

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

Africa Mining IQ (AMIQ) is your key to accessing one of Africa’s largest industries. Our online mining project platform is your window into a world of opportunities.

Africa Mining IQ, Africa's largest online mining portal, is an essential intelligence partner for anyone wanting to grow their business in the African mining industry.

Exploring Africa’s Natural Wealth

AMIQ gives you the ability to track movement on African mines and mining projects. Our easy-to-use platform gives you detailed and up-to-date information as well as key contact details for mining projects. AMIQ currently keeps track of:

Natural resources from Africa have a myriad of 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. Joining AMIQ allows you to explore this vast industry and hone in on the latest mines and mining projects to grow your business.

Exploration Mining in Africa: Minerals by Numbers

Our mining project information portal gives you access to exclusive information on the development of these projects:

788 gold projects
158 industrial projects
180 coal projects

113 PGM projects
93 iron ore projects
180 copper projects

147 diamond projects
108 uranium projects
47 nickel projects

Know exactly when to strike! Enquire now about AMIQ’s mining information portal.

Discover the ultimate mining projects portal

We track over 2 000 mining projects. Our users benefit from real-time project intelligence and key insights into strategic growth markets in Africa’s mining industry.

For easy navigation, Africa Mining IQ has divided the African continent into mining hubs, some differing from established geographical locations. These hubs consist of southern Africa, central Africa, east Africa, west Africa, north Africa, and the Indian Ocean.

Our mining projects are categorised for the ultimate user experience. They are categorised in both bankable and executable mining projects as well as by their mining project phase which includes grassroots, pre-feasibility, feasibility, bankable, execution, operational, and dormant (Licence Relinquished) . The total number of mining projects for each hub: southern Africa 782 , central Africa 194, east Africa 531, west Africa 535, and north Africa 30.

Our monthly reports allows you to keep a pulse of African mines and mining projects, get in touch with AMIQ today!

Past developments and future expectations

North Africa

North Africa has considerable mineral and metal resources, providing potential for those who want to expand their business in the region. This hub is host to almost 85% of global phosphate reserves, with Morocco holding the lion’s share of high-quality phosphate rock on the continent. The region’s mined phosphate contributes about a quarter of the world’s output and is used in fertiliser production.

South Africa

Africa Mining IQ has comprehensive information on all mining projects in all countries in this hub. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) produces two-thirds of Africa’s mineral exports by value.

South Africa has almost all commodities essential for international competition except for crude oil and bauxite. Zimbabwe and South Africa combined hold the majority of the world’s PGM reserves, while Botswana is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, followed by Angola.

In addition to diamonds in Botswana, the government has announced that it will be diversifying from the diamond sector into predominantly coal projects, and 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.

Other key mineral producers in southern Africa include the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Namibia, and Zambia, producing copper and cobalt, uranium, and copper respectively. In Botswana, diamond mining has always been at the core of the mining industry.

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.

Madagascar’s mining industry is small scale as its activity is based around isolated locations with large mineral deposits. Mining potential is noted in energy, industrial and metallic minerals, ornamental stone, and precious and semi-precious stones. The country has extensive deposits of minerals. Currently, there are 19 mines and mining projects in the country. Mining projects in Madagascar include 1 Nickel, 1 Zircon, 1 Lithium, 2 Ilmenite, 1 Vanadium, 2 Iron Ore, 1 Coal and 10 Graphite.

Tanzania is the largest regional miner of tanzanite and gold, the latter being East Africa’s biggest resource, with exploration for nickel and uranium also conducted. Gold reserves in the country are estimated at over 30 million ounces. Burundi also offers gold reserves, as well as copper, cobalt, nickel and uranium deposits. Kenya, another country in the East African Community, is focused on gold.

West Africa

The revival of rail ports has resulted in the opening of mines in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone among others. The percentage of export generated by minerals, however, is negligible compared to that of petroleum and crude oil.

This region’s growth prospects picked up during 2017 due to improved commodity prices and demand. The various countries within this region contribute to mining in Africa with vast untapped mineral reserves and a positive foreign investment outlook. This contributes to the region’s promising long-term growth outlook.

Central Africa

This region of mining in Affrica continues to grow steadily and is a hot spot for iron ore, gold and other minerals. Much of this development is focused in the DRC, Congo-Brazzaville and Cameroon.

The Africa Mining IQ Assurance

Access to AMIQ’s online platform provides you with comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date intelligence on mines in Africa:

Powerful, customisable dashboards

Use the dashboard filters to hone in on relevant products, in just a few clicks.

Key contact information guaranteed

For mine owners and engineers for each project.

Up-to-date commentaries and events logs

Complete, detailed commentary on
over 2 000 projects

In-depth market analysis, research and reporting

Understand trends growth in key markets: all the intel you need in one place.

Collaborate & communicate with fellow users

Make notes, set reminders and generate individual sales reports for your company’s sales pipeline.

Email alerts on new projects

Be the first to know of developments and updates to the projects you are tracking.

Mining in Africa by phases

AMIQ gives you detailed and verified information on mining projects in their different phases. Our platform currently lists the following projects with information on the services required at each phase. Read more on our mining suppliers page.

Mining in Africa by Countries

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

552 mining projects in South Africa

99 mining projects in Botswana

22 mining projects in Sierra Leone

165 mining projects in Tanzania

62 mining projects in Mozambique

26 mining projects in Liberia

90 mining projects in Ghana

49 mining projects in Senegal

21 mining projects in Angola

123 mining projects in Namibia

54 mining projects in Madagascar

15 mining projects in Egypt

102 mining projects in DRC

28 mining projects in Ethiopia

18 mining projects in Kenya

100 mining projects in Zambia

47 mining projects in Zimbabwe

15 mining projects in Malawi

Top mining companies utilise our updated & verified portal to grow their business in Africa’s mining and mineral processing industries! Learn more.

Exclusive information on mining companies in Africa

Click on the links below to view the mining intelligence we offer on these mining companies!

African Mining IQ reporting

AMIQ helps you keep a pulse on African mining with comprehensive reports on mining in Africa. Our reports include in depth analysis that delves into African mining project statistics such as the number of projects per region per phase. They have been created for you to download and use to grow your business!

Strike at the right time! Enquire now about how AMIQ can help you!

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

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

Project Contact Information

Africa Mining IQ is the ONLY African mining intelligence portal 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.

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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