The small country of Togo has a surprising diversity of mining and natural resources writes Dr Nicolaas C Steenkamp.
Togo Flag. Image by Natanaelginting on Freepik
The small country of Togo may be missed with a quick glance at the map of Africa. Like most countries in West Africa that have their roots as a port country during the scramble for Africa, it has a sliver of coast and has a width of less than 11km which extends inland. Togo gained independence in 1960 and has since survived some unstable political times.
The topography of Togo ranges from a coast with sandy beaches and lagoons, to a hilly centre grading into a savannah in the northern portion of the country. The country is generally considered to be tropical with the main export produce being coffee, cacao beans, peanuts and cotton as a cash product, while Togo is dependent on the import of most equipment, fuel and food products. The country has two main highways that connect the largest cities to the borders of its neighbours. With only one transport harbour, trade is assisted by inland travel on the largest river.
Geologically, Togo is underlain by Precambrian rocks with only the southern part of the country having occurrences of Cretaceous to Tertiary basin sediments, which dip gently towards the sea.
Mining is responsible for approximately a third of the GDP and employs up to 12% of the population with mineral exploration and mining operations regulated by the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The government’s strategy to date has been to reduce royalty payments on mineral mining and to implement a ‘first come, first served’ policy in the allocation of mining rights. In May 2019, Spatial Dimension (a Trimble company) won, on an open tender, a World Bank-funded project to establish a Mining Registry System for the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The cadastre is active and can be viewed online (https://cadastreminier.tg/EN/), putting the country ahead in terms of transparency.
Hosting the fourth largest phosphate deposits in the world, Togo’s mineral industry is dominated by the production and export of phosphate. The production of phosphate is led by the state-owned enterprise Société Nouvelle des Phosphates du Togo (SNTP), with main markets in Asia and Australia. The country has approximately 60 million tons in reserves. Phosphate rocks are found in Eocene deposits at Hahotoe-Akoumape and at Dagbati off the coastal basin. There are also considerable Neoproterozoic phosphate deposits, but these are too hardened to be developed economically.
Small amounts of precious metals and gemstones have been recorded in Togo, while gold anomalies have been discovered in many locations of Precambrian age but detailed exploration has not yet begun. Diamonds have also been found in alluvial formations in the rivers crossing the basic-ultrabasic trend and the Atacora structural unit. No formal mining of these commodities is taking place and these commodities are dominated by artisanal mining operations.
Base metal occurrences have also been recorded with zinc-mineralisation having been discovered near Pagala, about 280km north of Lome and the iron deposit of Bassar in the north of the country. Premier African Minerals Ltd owns the Pagala zinc mine, the Haito nickel mine, the Kara-Niamtougou uranium mine, and the Dapaong gold mine.
Gold anomalies have been discovered in many locations of Precambrian age but detailed exploration has not yet begun. image credit Pexels | David Bartus
The manganese deposit of Nayega is located in northern Togo and Keras Resources has spent the last couple of years in negotiation with the government to develop it. The company also indicated that they would be willing to contribute 0.75% of manganese sales revenue towards community development projects as part of their ESG commitment. Société Générale des Mines SARL, a subsidiary of the British company, has recently partnered with Carriere Mines Travaux Public to extract and develop manganese deposits at the Kpendjal mine in Northern Togo, while nearby, Neo Global Trading Sarlu, a subsidiary of Dubai registered Neo Global Trading LLC, is engaged in mining for magnetite.
Marble deposits are widespread in Togo. The most important are those of Gnaoulou and Pagala, which are both in production. Société Togolese de Marbrerie et Materiaux, West Africa’s only marble mining and manufacturing company is developing these deposits.
Limestone is locally mined for the production of cement by West African Cement S.A, which mines limestone in the Tabligbo coastal basin. The clinker plant commissioned in 2015 has the capacity to produce 5 000 tons of clinker per day, which averages at around 1.5 million tons per year.
Hydrocarbon deposits have been located offshore, however, no further exploration or indication of investment has been noted to develop these. Non-economical occurrences of bauxite, uranium, chromite, rutile (titanium dioxide) and kaolin (China clay) have also been recorded.
This small country has the potential to benefit from the development of its mining sector and the government of Togo has taken real steps towards advancing, improving and supporting the mining sector to increase possible investment and development of its resources.
About the Author
Dr Nicolaas C Steenkamp is an independent consultant, specialising in geological, geotechnical and geometallurgical projects and mining project management. He has over two decades of industry experience with global exposure. ncs.contract@gmail.com