Mineral development in Chad bas been largely overlooked

 

          Chad is a land-locked country, located in the heart of Africa. The neighboring countries are Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south and Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger to the west.

 

          It covers an area of 1.284.000 Km2 and has a varied geology very similar to that of its neighbours, all of which possess economic potential with deposits of minerals including gold, diamonds, uranium, base metals and oil, etc….

 

          The government has taken several legislative steps over the past few years to improve the economy and it is keen to encourage the development of mineral resources.

          Several important geological and mineralogical research programmes were recently initiated by the Directorate for Geological and Mining Research (DMG) and were funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

          Preliminary results from these programmes have been very encouraging and have justified further exploration. The government is also keen to begin a systematic geological survey of the country and to compile an inventory of mineral resources.

          Although it is thought that the country could host large hydrocarbon reserves and deposits of precious and industrial metals, and diamonds, the geology and mineral potential or Chad has never been thoroughly searched to any notable extent.

          The DMG research programmes indicate that there is every likelihood that significant mineral deposits exist.

Chad’s economy has recovered in the 12 years since the end of their civil war. The growth of medium-scale enterprises in the food and light industries sectors demonstrate that industry is steadily developing. However, the mining sector is still underdeveloped. To date the only resources mined in Chad are alluvial gold and diamonds, trona salt and building materials.