The mining sector is a core component of Senegal’s export industry and contributes strongly towards national revenue and foreign exchange earnings, accounting for 40% of total export revenues. To further grow the sector, Senegal aims to accelerate foreign investment in its extractive industries to support long-term economic development, as outlined in the country’s Plan Sénégal Emergent. While Senegal’s mining sector has focused primarily on gold, phosphate and zircon to date, the country also boasts significant reserves of base metals such as iron, copper, nickel and chromite.
Phosphate
Senegal is estimated to hold phosphate reserves exceeding one billion tons. The Taiba mine – situated approximately 100 km from Dakar – boasts reserves of 60-70 million tons and produces roughly 3,500 tons per day of phosphate. With reserves estimated at 135 million tons, the Matam phosphate mine is the fifth-largest mine in Senegal and has an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons per year. Meanwhile, the Baobab phosphate project has probable mineral reserves of 39.3 million tons. Last February, Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote announced a one-billion-dollar investment in phosphate in Senegal. Dangote cited Senegal’s immense reserve base, annual production level of two million tons per year and enabling investment climate as reasons behind the investment.
Iron Ore
Distributed across a 65-km long and 15-km wide belt, Senegal’s Falémé iron district in the Tambacounda region holds 9 major and 19 minor orebodies. The Falémé deposits are estimated to hold reserves of 300 million tons of oxide and 250 million tons of primary magnetite. In 2023, Senegal launched the Falémé Integrated Iron Project, which will be conducted in three phases and aims to produce 15-25 million tons of iron ore.
Gold
In 2020, Senegal’s gold production amounted to approximately $633 million in revenue. New estimates – released in March 2024 – have put the resource base of the country’s fourth-largest mine, the Mako gold mine, at 26.53 tons. The mine produced approximately 120,000 ounces of gold in 2023, which its operator Australia’s Resolute Mining hopes to increase to 140,000-150,000 ounces this year. Meanwhile, the country’s largest producing gold mine, the Sabodala-Massawa mine, currently supplies 400,000 ounces per year. Expansion work on the mine is currently underway by its operator the UK’s Endeavour Mining, with a new processing facility poised to add incremental production of 1.35 million ounces.
Zircon
Set to position Senegal among the top producers of zircon in the world, the country launched its Acceleration of Zircon Exploitation project in 2022, which aims to achieve a production rate of 90 tons per year. Senegal’s flagship zircon operation is the Grande Côte Mineral Sands project, which currently produces approximately 55 kilotons of zircon per year.
Chromite
Deposits of chromite found in the eastern part of Senegal offer the country an opportunity to become a major producer of steel, copper, glass and cement. Airborne surveys and soil geochemical surveys have found indications of chromite in the Gabou and Diabal regions, as well as the Mauritanides thrust belt in northeastern Senegal.
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