The regulation of mining in

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

is handled by the Ministry of Mines, Industry, and Energy, which oversees activities in the mining and petroleum industries. Petroleum exploration and production is the core of Equatorial Guinea's economy, and accounts for over 90 percent of Equatorial Guinea's

national income A variety of measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate total economic activity in a country or region, including gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP), net national income (NNI), and adjusted nati ...

. As a result, little attention has been given to exploring and making use of the country's mineral resources; There is no commercial mining, although there are minor gold mining operations. The Equatoguinean government has conducted preliminary explorations that they believe show potential mining opportunities for diamonds and coltan., and the Ministry of Mines is now promoting the country's mining potential in hopes of attracting investors Historically, the peoples of Equatorial Guinea produced gold and iron before being colonized by Spain. During colonial rule, there were no commercial mining operations. Following independence in 1968, Soviet and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

geologists found potential deposits of gold, bauxite, tin, tungsten, and coltan. Additional surveys conducted by GEMSA, a Spanish-Equatoguinean joint venture, and UMCEG (Ocean Energy, previously named United Meridian Corporation) performed airborne and land surveys, as well as the creation of

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

databases. The government claims ownership of all mineral resources, and regulates them under law 9/2006 (replacing the former Mining Law, 9/1981).

Gold

Artisans using

placer mining Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed (Alluvium, alluvial) deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining, open-pit (also called open-cast mining) or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer minin ...

techniques retrieve gold from rivers in Río Muni, primarily the areas of

Cogo CoGo Bike Share is a public bicycle sharing system serving Columbus, Ohio and its suburbs. The service is operated by the bikeshare company Motivate (part of Lyft, Inc.) It was created in July 2013 with 300 bikes and 30 docking stations, since ex ...

Aconibe Aconibe (or Akonibe) is a town located on mainland Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República d ...

and Mongomo. The Equatoguinean government believes that at least 2.3 tons of gold were collectively produced from these small operations. In 2006, the United States Geological Survey reported that about 200 kg of gold were produced in Equatorial Guinea.

Diamond

Indicators of diamond deposits in Gabon extend to the southern border of Rio Muni, and the Equatorial government believes surveys may show the potential for diamond deposits in southeastern Rio Muni.

Coltan

The government reports that evidence of the presence of coltan ( columbite- tantalite, a tantalum ore) has been found near

and Akamiken. Very little exploration work has been performed in these areas, however.

External links

Ministry of Mines, Industry, and Energy
(English)

References

{{Mining in Africa Economy of Equatorial Guinea Mining in Equatorial Guinea