Minerals and Their Mining Areas in Africa

35 min

Let's begin

At Kimberley in South Africa there is a hole in the ground so wide that four football pitches could be laid end to end across it. Between 1871 and 1914, thousands of miners dug it out with picks and shovels in search of diamonds, and took out about 2,700 kg of them. Today it is flooded and silent, but Africa still produces much of the world's diamonds, cobalt, platinum and gold, and Rwanda earned over 1.1 billion US dollars from mineral exports in 2023 (Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board). Which minerals does Africa mine, and where?

Definition

Mineral: a natural, non-living substance with a definite chemical make-up, found in the Earth's crust; for example gold or copper ore. Ore: rock that contains enough of a valuable mineral to be mined at a profit. Mining: the extraction of minerals from the Earth. Mineral deposit: a concentration of a mineral in one place, large enough to be worth working.

Kinds of minerals

Group	Examples	Main uses
Metallic minerals	Copper, gold, iron ore, tin (from cassiterite), tantalum (from coltan), tungsten (from wolframite), cobalt	Wires, coins and jewellery, steel, solder, electronic parts, hard tools, batteries
Non-metallic minerals	Diamonds, limestone, phosphate, salt	Jewellery and cutting tools, cement, fertiliser, food
Energy (fuel) minerals	Coal, petroleum (crude oil), natural gas, uranium	Electricity, transport fuel, industry

Definition

Metallic mineral: a mineral from which a metal is obtained, such as copper. Non-metallic mineral: a mineral used for what it is rather than for a metal, such as diamonds or limestone. Fossil fuel: a fuel formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals, such as coal, oil and natural gas. Petroleum: crude oil, a liquid fossil fuel found trapped in rocks underground.

Where Africa's main minerals are mined

Figure 1 marks the mining areas you must know. As you read the table, find each one on the map.

Mineral	Main mining areas	Notes
Copper	The Copperbelt of Zambia (Kitwe, Ndola, Chingola, Mufulira, Luanshya) and Katanga in DR Congo (Kolwezi, Likasi, Lubumbashi)	One mineral belt crossing the border; Katanga also produces most of the world's cobalt
Gold	The Witwatersrand ("the Rand") around Johannesburg, South Africa; Obuasi and Tarkwa in Ghana; Geita in Tanzania; Mali	Johannesburg grew up on the Rand gold reefs after 1886
Coal	The Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa (around eMalahleni); Hwange, Zimbabwe; Moatize, Mozambique; Enugu, Nigeria	Most of South Africa's electricity comes from coal-fired power stations
Diamonds	Jwaneng and Orapa in Botswana; Kimberley in South Africa; Mbuji-Mayi in DR Congo; Catoca in Angola; Namibia's coast and sea bed; Sierra Leone	Mined from kimberlite pipes, river gravels and the sea bed
Petroleum	The Niger Delta, Nigeria; the Sirte Basin, Libya; Hassi Messaoud, Algeria; offshore Cabinda, Angola; the Gulf of Suez, Egypt	Much of the oil is exported as crude

Rwanda's minerals

Rwanda's mining is on a much smaller scale than Zambia's or South Africa's, but it is one of the country's largest export earners. Its main minerals are cassiterite (tin ore), coltan (the ore of tantalum, used in the capacitors of mobile phones and computers), wolframite (tungsten ore, used for very hard tools) and gold. According to the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB), the country's mineral exports rose from 772 million US dollars in 2022 to over 1.1 billion US dollars in 2023, a growth of 43%.

Definition

Cassiterite: the main ore of tin. Coltan: a dark ore (columbite-tantalite) from which tantalum and niobium are obtained. Wolframite: the main ore of tungsten (also called wolfram). The "3Ts": a short name for tin, tantalum and tungsten.

Worked example

Worked example 1: growth in Rwanda's mineral exports. Rwanda's mineral exports earned 772 million US dollars in 2022 and about 1,100 million in 2023 (RMB). Calculate the increase and the percentage growth.

Increase = 1,100 − 772 = 328 million US dollars.
Percentage growth = 328 ÷ 772 × 100 = 42.5%, which agrees with RMB's 43% (the 2023 total was slightly over 1.1 billion).

Worked example

Worked example 2: the 3Ts in one quarter. From October to December 2023, Rwanda's exports of cassiterite earned 19.68 million US dollars, coltan 18.90 million and wolframite 7.89 million, out of total mineral export earnings of 252.99 million (RMB). What share came from the 3Ts?

3Ts = 19.68 + 18.90 + 7.89 = 46.47 million US dollars.
Share = 46.47 ÷ 252.99 × 100 = 18.4%.
Conclusion: most of the earnings in that quarter came from gold, while the 3Ts brought in under a fifth.

Warning

Copper is mined in two countries on one belt. Do not write "the Copperbelt of DR Congo" and forget Zambia, or the reverse. The same belt of copper-bearing rocks runs from Zambia's Copperbelt Province into Katanga in DR Congo.

Tip

Learn the minerals as pairs of mineral → place, then practise drawing a sketch map of Africa with one symbol for each: copper → Copperbelt and Katanga; gold → Witwatersrand and Obuasi; coal → Highveld and Hwange; diamonds → Jwaneng and Kimberley; petroleum → Niger Delta and Libya.

Yaaka Digital Network: an overview of Africa's mineral resources and where they are mined. As you watch, add any new mining areas to your own sketch map.

✦

Practice

Define mineral and ore.
Classify these minerals as metallic, non-metallic or fuel: coal, diamonds, copper, limestone, petroleum, gold.
Name two copper-mining towns in Zambia and two in DR Congo.
Using Figure 1, name the country where each is mined: Jwaneng diamonds; Obuasi gold; Hwange coal; Hassi Messaoud oil.
Name Rwanda's four main minerals and give a use of each.
From October to December 2023, Rwanda's coltan exports weighed 468,577 kg and earned 18.90 million US dollars (RMB). Calculate the average price per kilogram to the nearest dollar.
Explain why tantalum from coltan has become so valuable in the last thirty years.
Draw a sketch map of Africa and mark one area for each of copper, gold, coal, diamonds and petroleum.

Show answersHide answers

Mineral: a natural, non-living substance with a definite chemical make-up found in the Earth's crust. Ore: rock containing enough of a valuable mineral to be mined at a profit.
Metallic: copper, gold. Non-metallic: diamonds, limestone. Fuel: coal, petroleum.
Zambia: any two of Kitwe, Ndola, Chingola, Mufulira, Luanshya. DR Congo: any two of Kolwezi, Likasi, Lubumbashi.
Botswana; Ghana; Zimbabwe; Algeria.
Cassiterite (tin: solder in electronics, tin cans); coltan (tantalum: capacitors in phones and computers); wolframite (tungsten: hard cutting tools); gold (jewellery, electronics, reserves).
18,900,000 ÷ 468,577 = about 40 US dollars per kilogram.
Tantalum is used to make small, reliable capacitors for mobile phones, computers and other electronics, and demand for these has grown enormously.
The map should show, for example: copper in the Copperbelt and Katanga; gold at the Witwatersrand; coal in the Highveld or Hwange; diamonds at Jwaneng or Kimberley; petroleum in the Niger Delta or Libya, with a key.

Sources and credits

Mineral industry of Africa, Copperbelt, Witwatersrand, Kimberley Mine and Coltan: Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted by Ganzaa.
Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB), Rwanda's Mineral Export Earnings Surge in 2023 (15 February 2024): export earnings for 2022 and 2023 and by mineral for October to December 2023. Facts used as stated.
Figure 1 drawn by Ganzaa on country outlines from Natural Earth (public domain).
Photo: Big Hole Kimberley, Rudolph Botha, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Photo: Zambia 1 (Nchanga copper mine), BlueSalo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Video: Mineral Resources And Mining In Africa - Geography Senior Four, Yaaka Digital Network, embedded from YouTube.
Figure 1, tables, worked examples and exercises: written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Kinds of minerals

2Where Africa's main minerals are mined

3Rwanda's minerals

Kinds of minerals

Where Africa's main minerals are mined

Rwanda's minerals