Despite being a mineral rich country,

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 ...

has only recently begun to investigate mining on an industrial scale. Strong metal and industrial mineral prices since 2003 have encouraged companies to develop mines here. The terrain mainly consists of granite-rich ground with areas of ultramafic rocks that are sources of

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...

and

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow ...

. There are also deposits of

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, iron ore,

nepheline syenite Nepheline syenite is a holocrystalline plutonic rock that consists largely of nepheline and alkali feldspar. The rocks are mostly pale colored, grey or pink, and in general appearance they are not unlike granites, but dark green varieties are al ...

, and

rutile Rutile is an oxide mineral composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most common natural form of TiO2. Rarer polymorphs of TiO2 are known, including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite. Rutile has one of the highest refractive indices at visib ...

. Alluvial gold is mainly mined by artisanal miners.

Cameroon Overview

has a total area of approximately 475 445 thousand square kilometers, a coastline of some 400 kilometers, and a population approaching 27 million people.

Mining History

Prior to 2008, Cameroon had no industrial

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

history. Cameroon's undeveloped mineral resources include

from lode deposits,

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

, iron ore,

, and

. Strong metal and industrial mineral prices since 2003 have encouraged companies to develop mines. The Nkamouna enriched cobalt-nickel-manganese-iron laterite deposits and several other nickeliferous laterite deposits in southeast Cameroon were first discovered and investigated by the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

(UNDP) during 1981–1986, in a cooperative project with the Cameroon Ministry of Mines, Water and Energy to evaluate mineral potential in southeastern Cameroon. Due to the remote location and the low nickel prices at the time, the discovery did not draw much attention. No further exploration took place on the property until geologist William Buckovic became aware of the nickel discovery in 1988. The southeast region and nearby regions 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 nort ...

, Republic of the Congo, and

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

have few producing mineral deposits and few with near-term production potential. Most of this region is underlain by Proterozoic granite-gneiss-schist terrains. Within the region,

ultramafic rock Ultramafic rocks (also referred to as ultrabasic rocks, although the terms are not wholly equivalent) are igneous and meta-igneous rocks with a very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium, and are composed ...

s, the original source of the cobalt and nickel, are confined to the project area. There has been no previous production of minerals from the project area.

Alluvial gold Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. A ...

is artisanally exploited from stream gravels in parts of Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, and Central African Republic. However, the

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

’s 2002 estimate for total gold production from all four countries combined is less than 1,600 kilograms, or less than 50,000 ounces per year. The portion of this yield from within a 300-km radius of the Geovic Project is likely on the order of 20,000 ounces per year, a relatively insignificant amount by international comparisons. In the southwest part of the Central African Republic, alluvial gold is accompanied by small quantities of alluvial diamonds in streams which drain Cretaceous sandstone and conglomerates exposed further east. The Cretaceous formations do not extend into Cameroon.U.S. Geological Survey, 2002.

Geology of Cameroon

Cameroon Mining Laws & Regulations

Law No 2016/017 of December 14th 2016 on Mining Code http://www.minmidt.cm/en/latest-news/295-law-2016-017-of-december-14th-2016-on-mining-code.html

Institutions

Economics

Commodities

Bauxite (Aluminum-bearing ore)

As of April 2008,

is not mined in Cameroon; it is only smelted. The raw material is shipped from around the world to a smelter in

Edéa Edéa is a city located along the Sanaga River in Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It lies on the Cameroon National Railways Authority, Douala–Yaoundé railway line. Its population was estimated at 122,300 in 2001. Th ...

where a supply of hydro-electric power is available for processing. The smelted metal is exported globally. In 2019

Camrail Camrail is a company operating passenger and freight traffic between the two largest cities in Cameroon and several smaller cities. The company was formed in 1999 and granted a 20-year concession to operate the Cameroon National Railway. The compa ...

and Caynon Resources were working on exploiting rich Bauxite deposits at Minim to feed the smelter at

and for export.

Limestone

Limestone production in 2004 was 290,000 metric tons.

Cobalt

A Mining Permit was decreed in favor o
GeoCam
in 2003 that covers the entire cobalt mineral province in southeastern Cameroon, perhaps the largest primary cobalt resource in the world.

Diamonds

All buyers must obtain an authorization permit document Directly from the Ministry of Mines, Department of Mines and Geology. This will give the buyer the full rights to be able to purchase diamonds from Cameroon as well as in any CEMAC member states.

Gold

Gold yielded an estimated 20000 kg in 2004 and was produced by small-scale artisan miners, mostly in the eastern part of the country. The Cameroon Ministry of Mines has set up new procedures binding the sales of precious metals. She looks for many more investors via the use of these procedures. In situations whereby a new local mining is in a business transaction with a buyer who wants to invest in mining, the Ministry of Mines in the department of Mines and Industries, will first of all receive the said quantity of consignment to be shipped and carry out a due diligence with the buyer's end. This is usually done on an interview basis once they correspond together.'Positive results to this effect would give a go ahead to the deal'..

Cameroon Overview

Mining History

Geology of Cameroon

Cameroon Mining Laws & Regulations

Institutions

Economics

Commodities

Bauxite (Aluminum-bearing ore)

Limestone

Cobalt

Diamonds

Gold

Iron Ore

Nickel

Uranium

Current projects

Cobalt, Nickel & Manganese Project

References