The

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 via ...

industry of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

, includes a number of gemstones and other minerals. The value of mining is dominated by the extraction of fuel minerals, particularly

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

. Malawi's production of uranium has contributed 1% to the global production of this mineral. Since 2009, with new licenses granted to extract it from the Kayelekera uranium mine in

Karonga District Karonga is a district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The district covers an area of 3,355 km.² and has a population of 365,028. It is a border district between Malawi and Tanzania, mainly occupied by the Tumbuka and Nkhonde tribes. Ot ...

, in the northern region of the country, its production has contributed to an increase of Malawi's

Gross Domestic Product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...

(GDP) from 1% to 10% as of 2013. It is estimated that with increased emphasis on mineral extraction, the sector's contribution to GDP could be 20% by 2023. As of the financial year 2015–2016, the Government of Malawi reported that mining contributed less than 1%. This is attributed to suspension of production at Kayelekera Uranium Mine.

History

Due to limited prospects of minerals and/or the remoteness of the mining areas, mining activity is limited to extraction of coal from

Livingstonia Livingstonia or Kondowe is a town located in the Northern Region district of Rumphi in Malawi. It is north of the capital, Lilongwe, and connected by road to Chitimba on the shore Lake Malawi. History Livingstonia was founded in 1894 by mis ...

and

Rumphi Rumphi is the capital of the Rumphi District (Rumphi Boma) in the Northern Region of Malawi. It is a lively town with a market which serves the widespread farming community. Rumphi is noted for the kindness of the people (it is even rude to pa ...

mines in the northern region of the country. Other limited mining activities cited in 2015 included

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

for manufacture of cement, and limited extraction of gemstones such as agate, aquamarine,

amethyst Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος ''amethystos'' from α- ''a-'', "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) / μεθώ (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that t ...

garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different s ...

corundum Corundum is a crystalline form of aluminium oxide () typically containing traces of iron, titanium, vanadium and chromium. It is a rock-forming mineral. It is a naturally transparent material, but can have different colors depending on the pres ...

rubies A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sap ...

, and

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...

Production

Mineral extraction in the country relies mostly on the private sector.

Artisanal mining An artisanal miner or small-scale miner (ASM) is a subsistence miner who is not officially employed by a mining company, but works independently, mining minerals using their own resources, usually by hand. Small-scale mining includes enterprises ...

, to a limited extent, is of aggregates, brick clay, gemstones, and lime. Significant increases in mining for uranium,

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...

, ornamental stone, coal and lime was recorded in 2010. The sector has provided increased employment opportunities in recent years.

Legal framework

Malawi has enacted laws to govern the mining sector. These include: the Mines and Minerals Act 1981 which enunciates rules of business for the sector; the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 1983; and the Explosives Act 1968. And the mines and minerals act 2018 Implementation of the Mining Act rests with the Commissioner for Mines and Minerals under the Ministry of Energy and Mining. A National Environmental Action Plan has also been proposed and it is mandatory for all mining projects to prepare an environmental impact assessment plan.

Commodities

Minerals which have been explored and assessed include

apatite Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite, with high concentrations of OH−, F− and Cl− ions, respectively, in the crystal. The formula of the admixture of the three most common e ...

near Lake Chilwa,

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(O ...

from the hills of

Mulanje Mulanje, formerly called Mlanje, is a town in the Southern Region of Malawi, close to the border with Mozambique, to the east. It is near the Mulanje Massif. Location The town of Mulanje lies along the M-2 highway from Thyolo to the west to t ...

, kyanite mines in the Dedza-

Kirk Range The Kirk Range is a plateau in southwestern Malawi, extending in a north-south direction and skirting the southwestern shore of Lake Malawi and the western border of the Shire River valley. The range includes several peaks higher than 1800 meters i ...

;

vermiculite Vermiculite is a hydrous phyllosilicate mineral which undergoes significant expansion when heated. Exfoliation occurs when the mineral is heated sufficiently, and commercial furnaces can routinely produce this effect. Vermiculite forms by the wea ...

in the region of

Ntcheu Ntcheu is a town located in the Central Region of Malawi. It is the administrative capital of Ntcheu District Ntcheu is a district in the Central Region of Malawi. It borders with the country of Mozambique. The district headquarters is Ntcheu ...

close to

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fre ...

; and rare-earth minerals in Mount Kangankunde. The Chimimbe Hill mines in western Malawi have the potential for

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

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 to ...

mining. Large deposits of

niobium Niobium is a chemical element with chemical symbol Nb (formerly columbium, Cb) and atomic number 41. It is a light grey, crystalline, and ductile transition metal. Pure niobium has a Mohs hardness rating similar to pure titanium, and it has sim ...

(columbium),

tantalum Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that is ...

, and

zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'', ...

(about 60 million metric tons in varying proportions and grades) have been recorded in the Kanyika pyrochlore mines.

Clinker Clinker may refer to: *Clinker (boat building), construction method for wooden boats *Clinker (waste), waste from industrial processes *Clinker (cement), a kilned then quenched cement product * ''Clinkers'' (album), a 1978 album by saxophonist St ...

and

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...

have been imported to produce cement. The Kangankunde mine in the southwest of Balaka has a reserve of 2.53 million tons of 4.24% grade of rare earth elements.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Mining in Malawi Economy of Malawi

History

Production

Legal framework

Commodities

See also

References