S4 2020 Term 2

Topic: MINING INAFRICA.

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Introduction:
Mining refers to all attempts to extract valuable minerals, both
solid and liquid from the earth’s crust.
The mineral industry of Africa includes the mining of various
minerals; it produces relatively little of the industrial metals
copper, lead, and zinc, but according to one estimate has as
a percent of world reserves 40% of gold, 60% of cobalt, and
90% of the world's platinum group metals.

Types of minerals.
There are three types of minerals:
1. Metallic minerals.
2. Non-metallic minerals.
3. Minerals which provide power.

Metallic minerals.
Most metals occur as oxides, sulphides or carbonates, such
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as gold and diamond may occur in pure state. There are two
types of metallic minerals, namely non-ferrous minerals and
ferrous minerals.

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 (i) Non-ferrous minerals contain minerals such as
copper, lead, zinc, aluminum, tin, and so forth.
(ii) Ferrous minerals contain iron.
There are four types of iron ore:
a) Hematite; contain 70% iron.
b) Limonite: iron content rarely exceeds 60%.
c) Magnetic: mainly occurs in igneous rocks and has iron
content of about 70%.
d) Siderite: has iron content of about 30% and mainly
occurs in sedimentary rocks.

Non-Metallic minerals.
Several non-metallic minerals exist. They include
Phosphates, nitrates, potash, graphite, Sulphur, mica,
precious stones etc.
 Phosphates, nitrates and potash are used for making
fertilizers.
 Graphite is a form of carbon which is soft and used to
manufacture of pencils, paint and dry cells.
 Sulphur is mainly used in the manufacture of a variety of
chemicals and in vulcanization (hardening) of rubber.
Sulphur is also used in the manufacture of medicines and
insecticides. Sulphur occurs in regions of volcanic activity.
 Asbestos is mainly used for manufacture fire proof clothes
and insulating materials.
 Common salt occurs in some in certain types of rocks.
Over a half the salt produced in the world is consumed and
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the rest is used the manufacture of chemicals.

 Stones such as graphite and marble are used for building
purposes.

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Minerals which provide power.
Minerals which provide power include petroleum, coal, natural
gas, uranium and water.

METHODS OF MINING MINERALS

Underground mining/ adit/ shaft / deep mining.

 This is used when the mineral lies deep below the earth’s
surface, the overlying layers may be too thick to be
removed by mechanical means.
 A vertical shaft tunnels are dug into the earth’s crust to
reach the mineral. From the shafts tunnels or galleries are
dug horizontally to reach the mineral.
 The roof of the tunnel must be supported by steel or
concrete beams to prevent it from collapsing.
 Light railway tracks are then laid to bring the ore to the foot
of the shaft for transporting to the surface.

 Minerals such as potash, salt and Sulphur are mined by

sinking pipes underground to reach the mineral.
Superheated water to the deposit until the mineral
dissolves (or melt e.g. Sulphur) and is then pumped into
the surface.

 At the surface water evaporate leaving the mineral behind.

 The drilling of oil and natural gas using a derrick is done in
similar way.
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 Shaft method of mining

Drift or adit mining.

Simplest of the underground mining operations.
A slightly inclined or horizontal mineral seam(coal) that is
overlain by very thick overburden but exposed on hillside is
mined by simply cutting a tunnel called Adit or adrift into the
mineral bearing stratum and extracting it.

Slope mining.
When the mineral seam is too steeply tilted for drift mining or
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it is below a thick overburden, slope mining is sometimes

practiced. It involves construction on of an inclined tunnel

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 known as slope through which conveyor belt or cable car is
used to bring out the ore.

Open –cast mining.

 Used to extract minerals that occur near the earth surface.
 This method involves removing the top layers of the earth
and other materials lying above the mineral.
 Heavy machinery is used like bulldozers and other earth
removing machinery.
 Once the deposit has been reached electric shovels are
used to dig up the mineral deposit and load it onto trucks or
Lorries.

Sometimes the overlying layers are hard and had to be

blasted using explosives in order to reach the ore.

 In open cast mining is employed when quarrying limestone

for manufacture is cement, copper in Zambia, etc.

Alluvial mining.
Minerals that occur in alluvial deposits can be recovered by
Placer
Alluvial mining method.
 This method involves the mixing of alluvial deposit with
water in the container. The mixture is stirred/ rotated until
light particles such as sand, mud and small stones are
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washed off leaving mineral particles such as gold,

platinum and diamonds.

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  Sometimes the miners use circular and by swirling the pan
round, lighter materials are washed away leaving the
heavy mineral deposit. This method is called Panning.
 If the mineral deposit outcrop is in the valley a jet of water
under high pressure is used. The jet of water is directed to
the rock outcrop deposit and because of great pressure;
gravels and minerals collect at the valley bottom where
mineral grains are recovered. Alluvial mining is common in
river valleys

COPPER MINING IN ZAMBIA.

The copper belt extends from Katanga district of southern
Zaire to the town of Ndola in Zambia.

The belt is about 450 km long and about 250 km wide and
contains large reserves of copper.

The main mining centers include; Roan Antelope and Nkana

opened 1931, Mufulira opened 1933, Chibaluma opened
1955, Bancroft in 1957, Chimbishi mine became fully
operational 1965.

An Anglo-American corporation is fully involved in the

mining of copper in Zambia. The Zambian copper Belt alone
covers a zone of about 110km long by 50km wide.
Zambia’s copper accounts for 10% of the world’s total
production.
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Copper industries are the largest consumers of electricity

generated from Kariba and Kafue power generation
stations. Smelting of copper is done at Mufulira, Kitwe,

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 Luanshya and Ndola. Smelting done to get rid of some
impurities by melting.
Other minerals which are extracted in the Zambian copper
belt are; Silver and Gold which are removed during copper-
processing. Cobalt is mine d at Chibaluma and Nkana, while
Lead, Manganese and Zinc are mined in Kitwe district.

LOCATION OF COPPER BELT.

Kitwe copper mine

Kitwe, in north central Zambia, is a major copper mining and
processing center. The surrounding Copper belt Province
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provides about one-half of the country’s export earnings.

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Zambia, which holds one-fourth of the world's known copper
reserves, is dependent on copper and copper products for 80
percent of its export earnings. The country's economy has
suffered since 1975 as copper prices on the world market
have fallen.

Methods of mining Zambia’s copper.

There are two types of mining methods used:
a) Open cast mining.
b) Shaft or underground mining.
(read for the process above for each method)

Describe the factors that have favoured copper mining

on the copper belt.
 Presence of high-grade copper in large reserves which
enable large scale commercial copper mining to take place.
 Existence of copper ore near the surface of the earth
makes it easy to exploit using cheap open cast mining
method.
 Availability of gently flat relief makes the construction of
roads and railway lines relatively easy.
 Presence of adequate skilled labour to work in the copper
mining industry provided by the local population and
immigrants.
 Existence of abundant supply of hydroelectricity power
from R. Kafue to facilitate mining.
 Presence of adequate capital provided by foreign
companies like Anglo- American Corporation to invest in
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copper mining activities.

 Availability of a large market for copper in the European
Union markets.

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  Presence of developed transport and communication
network to facilitate transportation of copper to markets by
road and railway.
 Existence of abundant water supply from R. Kafue for
washing copper and other uses at the mine.
 Availability of favorable government policy to encourage
copper mining for increase of export earnings to the
country by inviting foreign investors.

Explain the Contributions of the mining sector to the

development of Zambia.
 Provision of foreign exchange through copper exports for
development of infrastructure.
 Provision of employment opportunities to many people to
improve their standard of living.
 Generates a lot of income earnings to people to improve
their standards of living.
 Led to development of infrastructure like roads and railway
lines to open up remote areas to access social services.
 Led to attraction of tourists leading to development of
tourism and earning of foreign exchange to the country.
 Led to development of industries e.g. copper smelting
industries by providing raw materials.
 Generation of revenue to government through taxation for
provision of social services.
 Provision of market for agricultural goods provided by
industrial workers and miners.
 Led to diversification of the economy by reducing
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overdependence in on agriculture.
 Led to development of urban centers like Kitwe, Ndola, etc.

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Outline the Problems facing the copper mining industry in
Zambia.
 Exhaustion of minerals in some mines due to over mining
for a long time since 1960’s.
 Price fluctuations of copper in the world market affected
profit margins.
 Zambia has a problem of land lockedness and has to
transport her copper through other countries such as
Tanzania, Malawi, and Zimbabwe to the port that are
distant routes.
 Competition for market with other copper producing
countries e.g. DR. Congo (Zaire) Chile and South Africa.
 Low wages are paid to the workers which often lead to
strikes.
 Shortage of labour to work in the mines.
 Depreciation and obsolescence of machinery that is costly
to replace.
 Competition from synthetic materials which reduces the
demand to copper.
 Power fluctuations due to much electricity needed to
process Copper that is costly.
 Political instability especially in the neighboring countries
such as Zimbabwe and Angola affect the export of the
mineral from Zambia through sea ports.
 Environmental degradation through air, land and noise
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pollution.
 Collapsing roofs of mines underground lead to death of the
miners.

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  Diseases like silicosis, lung cancer, etc. due to inhaling too
much dust from the mines while at work.
 Very hot heat, pressure and sometimes suffocation of the
miners while underground in the mines lead to death.
 Lead to occurrence of landslides that destroy people’s
property and lives.
 Has led to destruction of top layers of cultivable soil limiting
food production in the area.
 Occurrence of soil erosion accelerated by mining activities
affects productive soil.

Outline the environmental problems which have resulted

from copper mining in Zambia.
or
Outline the effects of mining to the physical environment
 Displacement of people from the copper mines region
lead to high cost of resettlement.
 Deforestation lead to global warming and desertification.
 Lead to destruction of habitats for animals lead to their
migration and extinction of some species.
 Creation of hollows/ pits that are abandoned after
exhaustion of the minerals as Ghost towns.
 Stagnant water in the hollows/ pits may act as breeding
grounds for vectors that cause diseases to people.
 Dumping of wastes during mining and processing copper
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lead to pollution of air, soils, water and noise.

 Heavy rainfall that causes flooding of the mines may
cause accidents and death of workers.

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Outline the measures being taken solve the problems
facing mining sector in Zambia.
 Recycling and treatment of wastes refilling of the hollows/
depressions to reduce the dangers from their existence.
 Resettlement of people in new areas.
 Setting up treatment centers where the sick are treated.
 Planting of trees to control landslides and soil erosion in
areas affected by mining.
 Removal/ draining off stagnant water to destroy the
breeding places for pests.
 Replacement of out dated machinery with advanced
technology of modern machinery.
 Hiring of labour from other countries such as Angola,
Malawi, DR. Congo, to work in the mines.
 Opening up alternative routes for export of copper e.g.
Tanzam railway.
 Carry on with market research to widen market to other
countries for increased sales of copper.
 Building up improved political relations with neighbouring
countries through peace talks.
 Improve working conditions for workers by increase of
wages and set up trade unions to reduce causes of
strikes.

IRON ORE MINING IN LIBERIA.

Liberia is endowed with large reserves of iron ore.
Companies from USA Germany and Sweden have been
granted concessions by the Liberian Government to mine
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iron ore. Large deposits of iron ore have been discovered at

the Wolongsi Mountain Range in Liberia, at Bie Mountain
Range in Western Liberia and at Bong Mountain to the north-

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 east of Monrovia, the Bong iron-ore mines have large
deposits.

Transportation of the Iron ore.

A railway line links Monrovia with Bong Mountains. Iron ore
from Bie Mountains Ranges, Bomi Hills and from Bong
Mountains is exported to industrialized nations of Western
Europe through the port of Monrovia. Iron ore from Mt. Nimba
in northern Liberia is exported through the port of Buchanan.

Map of Liberia showing iron ore deposits.

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 Describe the conditions which have favoured iron ore
mining in Liberia.
 Existence of large deposits of iron ore in the country, in the
areas of Yekpa, Bong, Voinjama, etc. for economical
mining to take place.
 Presence of adequate capital to invest in iron ore mining
provided by companies, e.g. LAMCO.
 Presence of adequate skilled and semi-skilled labour to
work in the iron ore mines.
 Presence of adequate power supply in form of hydro-
electricity and thermal power used in mines and mineral
processing.
 Availability of efficient transport network in form of railway,
roads and water for transportation of mineral ores to
processing industries.
 Proximity to the coast which make exportation of mineral
resources easy through Monrovia and Buchanan ports.
 Existence of large market for iron especially in Europe and
America.
 Availability of advanced technology used in the mining of
iron ore provided by foreign companies.
 Presence of adequate water supply from many rivers like;
St John River, St Paul river, Mano, etc.
 Availability of favorable government policy of encouraging
foreign investment in the mining sector.
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Explain the contribution of the mining sector to the

development of Liberia.
 Source of foreign exchange through export of iron ore to
provide social services.
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  Creation of employment opportunities to many people to
improve their standard of living.
 Source of income to people leading to improved standard
of living.
 Has led to diversification of economic of Liberia from other
sectors.
 Led to generation of revenue for government through
taxation to provide social services to
people.
 Led to development of infrastructure like roads and railway
for transportation of minerals and link people to services.
 Promoted the development of urban centers and ports like
Monrovia and Buchanan to provide various functions.
 Promoted international relationships/ friendships with other
countries.
 Led to the development of industries due to raw materials
from iron ore mining.
 Mining is a tourist attraction has led to promotion of tourism
and earning foreign exchange to the country.
 Has provided market for local products e.g. agricultural
products consumed by miners to promote local production.

Outline the effects of iron ore mining on the environment

in Liberia.
 Results into loss of vegetation cover affecting the local
climate.
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 Loss of land for agriculture due dumping of wastes from

mining by heaping mass of rock.
 Formation of depressions/ hollows due to open cast
mining (quarrying) and land subsidence after hollows is
left uncovered.
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  Pollution of land, water and air during excavation of the
mineral.
 Collapse of mines causes accidents and loss of life.
 Stagnant water in hollows are habitats for breeding of
pests and diseases affecting miners.
 Occurrence of soil erosion accelerated by heavy
machinery used to excavate minerals.
 Led to displacement if people from mining areas, this has
led to loss of their habitats.
 Occurrence of landslides due to use of explosives to blast
iron ore bearing rocks.
 Occurrence of floods in the mines.
GOLD MINING IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Gold is a shiny yellowish mineral that does not rust or fade in
colour. Gold is the world’s most valuable mineral throughout
history.
Today it is widely used as a basis of the world’s money and
jewelry.

South Africa is the leading producer of Gold in the world. The

main deposits are at Witwatersrand goldmines close to
Johannesburg, a city that developed due to Gold. Gold
occurs as small grains in hard rock.

The Gold-bearing rocks are found very deep below the earth
surface; hence underground mining method is used for
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getting gold ore to the surface.

Processing.
 At the surface, gold ore is crushed into fine powder and the
stirred with solution of sodium cyanide which dissolves the
particles of Gold
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  Cyanide solution is mixed with zinc- durst causing the gold
to precipitate. The gold is melted and then molded into
bars.
 During the process of purifying gold, Uranium occurs with
Gold is also extracted.
 Uranium is used in the production of atomic energy.

Describe the factors that have favoured Gold mining in

the Rand.
 Availability of large gold reserves / deposits in the Rand–far
west, East rand etc. for commercial mining.
 Presence of advanced technology used for large scale
extraction of gold.
 Availability of abundant cheap power –HEP and Coal for
running the mining industry.
 Existence of large / ready market for Gold both locally and
international.
 Availability of highly skilled labour using the advanced
technology in the mining.
 Presence of large supply of cheap migrant labour
(Bantustans) from neighboring countries e.g. Lesotho,
Swaziland and Botswana.
 Availability of developed transport network like railway and
road network for easy access to the gold mines.
 Existence of large volumes of water from R. Vaal for mining
and processing of gold. Presence of some minerals located
either exposed or near the surface for easy mining.
 Existence of high-grade gold of commercial valve promotes
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commercial mining.
 Availability of favorable government policy that support
large scale investment.
 Presence of adequate capital invested in the mining sector
provided by both local and international companies
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 Location of South African Goldfields.

Explain the problems facing gold mining in the Republic

of South Africa.
 Existence of some gold bearing reefs at great depth has
led to high cost of mining.
 Accidents in the mines cause loss of lives and equipment.
 Pollution of air, land and water resulting from dumping of
wastes in the environment.
 Competition in the international market leads to low foreign
incomes.
 Exhaustion of gold reserves leads to closure of the mines,
unemployment and residual towns/ ghost towns.
 Price fluctuation in the international markets reduces profit
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margins.
 Overpopulation in the mining centers has caused many
urban related problems, such as, theft, poor hygiene, etc.
 Labour shortage resulted into reliance of expensive foreign
labour force/ migrant labour.
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 High taxes which discourage investors to invest in mining
industry.
 Shortage of capital is limiting national investment hence
relying on foreign investors.
 Repatriation of profits leading to loss of income to the
country.

Outline the Steps being taken to promote the mining

sector in the Republic of South Africa.
 Improving the working conditions of the miners through
strengthening trade unions.
 Employing advanced technology to ease mining for quality
and increased production.
 Erecting/ construction of props (beams to support roofs) in
the mines to prevent the collapsing of mining roofs.
 Effecting proper waste disposal measures such as
treatment, recycling, etc.
 Recycling water from the mines to reduce water wastage.
 Prospecting for more minerals to diversify the mining
sector.
 Improving transport to ease movement of goods and
services.
 Carrying out market research and advertising to increase
sales.
 Encouraging foreign investors in order to increase mineral
extraction.
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 Training local workers to improve labour productivity.

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Diamonds in South Africa.

Diamonds is a hardest mineral; it is not a metal but a

precious stone that has been valued for centuries because of
its transparent sparkling brilliant when out and because of its
Varity.
Diamonds are found in few places occurring as scattered
crystals in an igneous rock called Kimberlite.
Which forms pipes-like dykes or volcanic plugs deep
underground in South Africa. Erosion of these pipes has
caused the resistant diamonds to be washed into rivers and
later deposited in river banks lower downstream; they are
called alluvial Diamonds mined using placer method.

Method of mining Diamonds in South Africa.

 Alluvial Diamonds are mined using placer or alluvial mining
method.
 In this case a steel dredge or gravel pump is used to suck
up alluvial deposits, which are thoroughly mixed with water.
 The mixture is rotated and in the process diamonds settle
down while the fallings are washed off.
 This type of mining is carried out extract diamonds in the
Vaal, Hartz and Orange Valleys.

The diamonds in Pretoria, Bultfontein Jagersfontein and

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Koffiefontein are exploited by use of Underground mining

method.
The major diamond producing areas are: Pretoria, Kimberly
and Fort Nolloth.

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 MAP OF REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA DIAMOND
FIELDS.

Uses of Diamonds
 Diamonds of gem quality are used for jewelry.
 Poorer qualities have a wide range of industrial use, e.g.
cutting equipment.
 Making industrial equipment like drilling bits, lathe and
abrasive polishing wheels.
 White sparkling diamonds are cut into pyramidal germs for
decorations.

OIL MINING IN AFRICA.

Today Africa’s main Oil producers include: Nigeria, Libya and
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Algeria which range among the top 14 producers in the world.

These three countries together with Gabon are members of
O.P.E.C. Other oil producers in Africa are not members of
OPEC include; Egypt, Angola, Tunisia, Congo and Zaire

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Oil prospecting and drilling.
 Oil prospecting i.e. survey and exploration to establish the
presence of oil wells / deposits and rock alignments and
hardness etc. are carried out.
 Construction of oil rings and derrick.
 Drilling is done to extract oil from the well.
 Oil is pumped out to reservoir.
 The crude oil is then transported by pipelines to the coast
for refining into different products like paraffin, petrol,
plastic, etc.

Methods of drilling oil

Off shore drilling is employed where oil occurs under the
continental shelves.
Derrick and other equipment are mounted on the platforms.

Methods of drilling oil include:

a) Percussion or cable- tool method – used for drilling
shallow wells of not more than 2000ft deep. It is cheap to
use but slow and inefficient and so it is rarely used.
b) Rotary method – used by modern oil companies and more
efficient.
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Structure of a Derrick.
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 The drilling stem carries steel drilling pipes each 30ft long
and 5 inches’ diameter at the bottom is a powerful drilling bit
that cuts its way through the earth and rocks.
As the drilling operation progresses more and more steel
pipes are added until the bore hole is thousands of metres
deep.

The bore hole is reinforced by steel pipes of larger diameter

than the drilling pipes which prevent it curving in.
When the drilling bit finally strikes the oil or gas bearing rocks,
gas and oil often gush upwards to the surface because they
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are usually trapped under great pressure. The bore hole

releases the pressure and allows oil to flow out.

TRANSPORTING OIL PRODUCTS

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 Petroleum is one of the minerals traded in large quantities
and transported over long distances.
a) It can be conveyed by road, in oil trucks,
b) By railway wagons,
c) By sea in oil tankers and even by
d) Military aircrafts on emergency purposes.
e) The bulk of the oil in the world from oil fields is
transported by endless network of pipelines. Once a
pipeline is built the route is fixed.
f) Oil is transported to refineries from oilfields or to coastal
terminals by pipelines.

Oil Refining

Crude oil is made up of various hydrocarbons,

The basic components have to be separated to have crude
oil important for industrial use.

At refinery crude oil s broken down the various hydrogen
carbons into their respective fractions through a complex
process called Distillation.

At the refinery many products are produced up to 80
different products of oil, gas and chemical products.

Products from petroleum after the refinery.

a) Petrol called Gasoline.
b) Paraffin (Kerosene).
c) Benzene.
d) Diesel,
e) Lubricants,
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f) Fuel oils,
g) Also a number of residues are produced in the process
these include:
 Coke,
 Asphalt,
 Bitumen or tar
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  Wax.

h) Gases such as butane and propane are produced.

OIL MININ IN LIBYA

Traces of oil and gas were discovered in Libya before 1914

nd
but the exploration of oil was discovered by the 2 World
War in 1961 and by 1963 Libya was producing millions of
tons of oil.

Both reserves of oil and Natural gas occur at Dahra, Zelten,

Beda, Serir, Hamada, Hofra and other fields.

The mining of petroleum is done by foreign companies from

Germany, Italy and Spain.

Most of the wells are very deep and operations cost are very
high. There are several pipelines from the oilfields to the
coastal ports such as Mersa el Brega, Sidra, Ras Lanuf and
Tobruk.

At Zelten and Raguba natural gas is produced. The gas is

piped to mersa el
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Brega where it is converted into liquid gas. The liquidfield

natural gas is then exported to Italy and Spain.

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 a) Describe the Conditions which have favored oil
mining industry in Algeria.
 Existence of large deposits of oil in Algeria enabled
commercial mining.
 Presence of adequate capital to invest in oil mining
activities.
 Availability of large labour both skilled and semi-skilled in
to work in the mining.
 Availability of favorable government policy of encouraging
oil mining through negotiating for soft loans and foreign
investors.
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 Existence of advanced technology applied in oil

prospecting, exploitation and transporting.
 Presence of developed transport for transportation and
marketing of oil by pipelines, road in trucks and water and
rail.
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  Proximity to the coast which facilitates oil refinery and
exportation.

b) Description of Process of mining oil in Algeria.

 Oil prospecting i.e. survey and exploration to establish the
presence of oil wells / deposits and rock alignments and
hardness etc. are carried out.
 Construction of oil rings and derrick.
 Drilling is done to extract oil from the well.
 Oil is pumped out to reservoir.
 The crude oil is then transported by pipelines to the coast
for refining into different products like paraffin, petrol,
plastic, etc.

c) Outline the Contribution of oil mining to Algeria.

 Provision of revenue to the government through taxation
for development of services to people.
 Has facilitated to the development of infrastructure like
roads, railway, etc. to link services to people.
 Source of valuable energy like paraffin, petrol and natural
gas used in many homes and industries.
 Led to diversification of the economy to reduce
dependence on agriculture.
 Source of income to many people to improve their standard
of living.
 Promoted development of urban centers like Algiers, Hassi
Messaoud, El borma and Edjele to provide various
functions like administrative, commercial and residential,
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etc.
 Source of raw materials for industries like petro-chemical
and plastic industries.

OIL MINING IN EGYPT.

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  The earliest discoveries of oil were made in the delta
region. Today over 80% of the oil producers comes from
fields around or under Gulf of Suez.

 The leading producers are four in and bordering the Gulf

with Ramadan bearing the most important.

 Egypt is also an important producer of natural gas and

fields occur in the western desert countries.

 Provision of employment opportunities to people

improving their standard of living.
 Has promoted international relations between Algeria
and other oil importing off shore near Alexandria and in
the Nile delta.
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 Oil mining in Nigeria.
Oil mining in Nigeria began in 1937 but it was not until 1956
that commercial deposits were discovered and production
began in 1958 at the Otoibiri field.

The companies which started petroleum mining in Nigeria

include: Shell B.P. (British Petroleum), Gulf, Mobil, Agip,
Texaco and Safrap. In 1971, the Nigerian National Oil
Corporation was established.
Prospects of locating other oil fields within Nigeria are on, for
half of the country’s total area consists of sedimentary basins
in which oil-bearing strata are likely to occur.
2
These basins cover 450,000 km occupying large areas
inland from the delta and extending into broad arms north-
west along the Niger valley and north-west along Benue
valley through Sokoto state towards the Chad.

Oil fields of the Niger Delta.

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Emihen Geography resources