On the whole African continent, Mauritania is a leading mining country, thanks to its rich and diversified mineral reserves. Those reserves include, but are not limited to, gold (25 million ounces), iron (1.5 billion tons), copper ( 28 million tons), Quartz (12 million tons) and phosphate (140 million tons).
According to official data, Mauritania contains more than 900 mining deposit indicators, confirmed and located on the geographical map for mineral resources.
Rich experience
The exploitation operations of these resources began in 1952, 8 years before the independence of the country, with the exploitation of the iron ore in “Kediat Idjil” by the multinational company with a capital predominantly French, MiFerMa , which will, soon, be nationalized in 1972, and transformed into SNIM, to continue the exploitation of these deposits.
Several other operations have been carried out since independence to exploit mineral reserves in Mauritania, such as TASIAST and MCM, which currently mine, respectively, for gold and copper.
On the other hand, many challenges facing the exploiting of these reserves have prevented the advancement of several other projects in this area: mainly the exploitation of the phosphate deposit at Bouffal and the gold deposits at Tijirit.
Challenges and perspectives
The development of this field is facing several challenges, mainly the unavailability of electricity in the areas of exploration and exploitation and the absence of road and port infrastructure.
Moreover, the lack of skilled labor and certified industrial solutions are also major challenges in this area, as well as the complexity of administrative procedures and the non-compliance with the legal arsenal in force.
To be sure, all over the past five years, Mauritania has made considerable progress in the production of electricity and the development of port infrastructure. Nevertheless, this advancement would only be useful if there is also creation of road and electricity networks linking industrial zones with energy resources to seaports and by encouraging PPP projects.
To overcome the electricity challenge, which is preventing the advancement of all industrial activities, it is necessary to speed up the work on the high-voltage power lines, currently under construction, linking the capital Nouakchott to the mining regions.
The inauguration of these lines and the maximization of the exploitation of renewable energy resources are capable of definitively solving the energy problems in Mauritania, in particular those of the high cost for production and the unavailability in industrial zones.
Other measures should be taken in this direction, such as the financing and the creation of national companies, -which are developing the industrial field-, encouraging them to exploit the mining potential, in accordance with the international standards in force.