The Malawi government is negotiating with the French government for
the latter to finance the Southern African country’s
long-awaited $36-million geological exploration and remapping
exercise.
Malawi is planning to carry out the exercise in order to produce
geological, geophysical and geochemical maps that will incorporate
more information that is not included on existing maps, which were
produced by British geologists before Malawi became independent in
1964.
The principal secretary in the Ministry crusher design calculation xlsof Natural Resources and
Environmental Affairs, Charles Msosa, says the government, which
has been in talks with several cooperating partners to provide
financial support for the project, “is now engaged in
promising talks with the robo sand processing unit priceFrench government”.
“The French government says it is committed to helping us
search for mineral deposits so that we can attract investors in the
minerals sector, which has the potential to boost the eco-
nomy,&mobile concrete crusher texasrdquo; he says. Msosa adds that the Malawi government expects
that the survey will produce positive results because
Malawi’s neighbours with similar geological conditions, such
as Tanzania, have started reaping the fruits of investing in
mineral-resource development.
The director of the Geological Survey Depart-ment, Leonard
Kalindekafe, says the government will engage technical partners
that are well versed in the use of modern exploration techniques to
carry out the remapping exercise. Malawi, which is predominantly an
agricultural country, started showing interest in reviving the
mining sector about five years ago.
Since then, several mining companies, mostly juniors, have acquired
the rights to explore for minerals such as uranium, gold,
platinum-group metals, nickel, vermiculite, zircon and
rutile.
Besides big companies like Paladin, which has made a substantial
investment to start mining uranium at its Kayelekera site, in the
north of the country, most of the companies are undertaking
exploration.
The companies that are reporting substantial progress in their
exploration work include the UK’s Lisungwe, which is looking
for nickel and uranium in southern Malawi, and a local company,
Allied Procurement Agency, which is prospecting for heavy minerals
along the shores of Lake Malawi.
Early this year, the Malawi parliament approved a new mining policy
that is meant to improve the participation of the private sector in
the mining industry.
The government hired South African consultants to develop the new
policy, which was designed with reference to other mining policies
in the Southern Africa Development Community region.