- Mining in The Gambia
Mining inThe Gambia , which is limited to the production ofclay ,laterite , sand and gravel,silica sand, andzircon , does not play a significant role in theGambian economy .Omayra Bermúdez-Lugo. [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2005/gapusgmyb05.pdf "The Mineral Industries of The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Senegal"] . "2005Minerals Yearbook ".U.S. Geological Survey (August 2007). "This article incorporates text from this U.S. government source, which is in thepublic domain .]Legal framework
The
Department of State for Trade, Industry, and Employment is the government entity responsible for the administration of the mining sector. A new mineral and mining law proposed in 2001 was still under consideration for approval by the Government as of 2005. The government has put in place policies to attractforeign direct investment , including freerepatriation of capital and profits, specialinvestment certificates , and constitutional guarantees and safeguards againstnationalization andexpropriation of investments.Mining
As of 2005,
Carnegie Corporation Ltd. (CCL) of Australia (50%) injoint venture with Astron of China (50%) held an exclusive prospecting license for theBatukunku , theKartung , and theSanyang mineral sands deposits inBrufut . In 2005, the joint venture completed a second-round trialdredge program at the deposit. Following the completion of this dredge program and of anenvironmental impact assessment study, the company submitted an application to convert its prospecting license to a mining lease. As of the end of 2005, CCL continued to wait for Government approval. As of 2005, total measured, indicated, and inferred resources at the Batukunku, the Kartung, and the Sanyang deposits were estimated to be 18.8 millionmetric tons (Mt) that contained about 1 Mt of heavy minerals at a cutoff grade of 1%. The heavy-mineral assemblage for these deposits was estimated to be about 71%ilmenite , 15%zircon , 3%rutile , and 11% other.References
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