Belinga is a location in
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...
with as yet unexploited
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
deposits. These ore deposits extend into neighbouring
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
and
Congo
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
.
Mining
The Belinga iron reserves were discovered in 1895.
[Douglas A. Yates, "Gabon", in ''Africa Yearbook: Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara 2006'' (2007), page 257.] They are estimated to hold about one billion tons of iron ore.
[
Iron ore mining was expected to start in 2011 but due to a lack of financing the project is currently on hold.
Because of slowness in getting the project started, the Chinese rights may be in 2012 given to ]BHP
BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
.
Transport
A 237 km long railway branch line is proposed branching from Booue to enable these deposits to be exploited. As the tonneages hauled will be greatly increased, this line may also extend to a port at Santa Clara which would extend the railway to 560 km.China to build Gabon railway.(News)
/ref>
The town is near the Republic of Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
and Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
borders.
See also
* Iron ore in Africa
Iron ore production in Africa is dominated by South Africa, Mauritania and Algeria. Many countries possess iron ore deposits that are as yet untapped/unmined. Countries and companies currently involved in production are listed here; measurements ...
* Railway stations in Gabon
The Trans-Gabon Railway (french: Transgabonais) is the only railway in Gabon. It runs east from Owendo port station in Libreville to Franceville via numerous stations, the main ones being Ndjolé, Lopé, Booué, Lastoursville and Moanda.
...
References
Places
Geography of Gabon
{{Gabon-geo-stub