The wealth of the subsoil of the Republic of Guinea. In memory of Vladimir Ibrahimovic Mamedov

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Open Access Open Access
Restricted Access Access granted
Restricted Access Subscription or Fee Access

Abstract

The Republic of Guinea has outstanding mineral resources. An analysis of current data has shown that in the near future this country will maintain its leading position in the world in the extraction and export of bauxite, as well as increase the production and export of alumina. Guinea has significant potential to develop large and rich iron ore deposits, but the development of this industry is hampered by the lack of infrastructure and an unstable geopolitical situation. Gold mining is successfully developing in the Siguiri ore region, where new promising deposits are discovered almost every year and new mines are put into operation. Guinea’s diamond deposits are among the most famous in West Africa and the world as a whole. However, the fall in global diamond prices in recent years has led to a slowdown in exploration, a lack of major discoveries and, consequently, a reduction in exports.

Full Text

Restricted Access

About the authors

N. S. Bortnikov

Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: bns@igem.ru

академик, научный руководитель 

Russian Federation, Moscow

N. M. Boeva

Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: boeva@igem.ru

доктор геолого-минералогических наук, ведущий научный сотрудник 

Russian Federation, Moscow

A. V. Volkov

Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: tma2105@ya.ru

член-корреспондент, заведующий лабораторией геологии рудных месторождений 

Russian Federation, Moscow

A. L. Galyamov

Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: a-galyamov@yandex.ru

кандидат геолого-минералогических наук, старший научный сотрудник

Russian Federation, Moscow

M. A. Makarova

Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: frolikovam@gmail.com

научный сотрудник 

Russian Federation, Moscow

References

  1. Global Mine Production. World Gold Council. June 9, 2022. https://www.gold.org/
  2. Mitchell J. Bauxite fervour has the potential to transform Guinea’s economy // Intellinews. 2024. https://www.intellinews.com/bauxite-fervour-has-the-potential-to-transform-guinea-s-economy-306917/
  3. Guinea achieves high score in EITI implementation. EiTi. February 14, 2022. https://eiti.org/news/
  4. Mamedov V.I., Boufeev Y.V., Nikitine Y.A. Geologie de la republigue de Guinee. Min. des Mines et de la Geologie de la Rep. De Guinee; GEOPROSPECTS Ltd; Univ. d’Etat de Moscou Lomonossov (Fac. Geol.) Conakry–Moscou: Aquarel, 2010.
  5. State report “On the state and use of mineral resources of the Russian Federation in 2021”. Moscow: VIMS, 2022. (In Russ.)
  6. Lacroix A. Les latérites de la Guinée et les produits d’altération qui leur sont associés // Nouv. Arch. 1913, ser. 5, vol. 5. pp. 255–358.
  7. Mamedov V.I., Boufeev Y.V., Makstenik I.O. Carte du Potentiel bauxitique de la Republique de Guinee. Echelle 1 : 500000, Republique de Guinee, Ministere de Mines, de la Geologie et de l’Environnement. 2005.
  8. Mamedov V.I., Chausov A.A., Okonov E.A. et al. The World’s Largest Fouta Djallon–Mandingo Bauxite Province (West Africa): Part I. Background // Geology of Ore Deposits. 2020, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 163–176.
  9. Гвинея. Горная энциклопедия. http://www.mining-enc.ru/g/gvineya?ysclid=lvdkm1s7n l505646100
  10. Bolonin A.V., Myznikov I.K., Nigmatullina A.M. Rich iron ores in the laterite weathering crust of the banded ferruginous formation in the Simandou mountain range (Republic of Guinea) // Ores and Metals. 2023, no. 2, pp. 44–63. (In Russ.)
  11. Simandou Iron Ore Project. RIO TINTO, 2024. Simandou. riotinto.com
  12. Guinea is the new frontier. Sanu-Gold Presentation. 2023. https://sanugoldcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Sanu-Gold_Presentation_2023-06-02.pdf
  13. Siguiri, Guinea. https://www.anglogoldashanti.com/portfolio/africa/siguiri/
  14. Подземный рудник Lero-Karta. https://nordgold.com/ru/operations/development-projects/podzemnyy-rudnik-lero-karta/
  15. Kouroussa, Guinea. https://www.hummingbirdresources.co.uk/operations-projects/guinea/
  16. Tri-K project. https://www.managemgroup.com/en/tri-k-project
  17. Vaganov V.I. Diamond deposits of Russia and the world (fundamentals of forecasting). Moscow: Geoinformmark, 2000. (In Russ.)
  18. Podchasov V.M., Evseev M.N., Boghykh I.Ya. et al. Placers of diamonds of the World. Moscow: Geoinformmark, 2005. (In Russ.)
  19. https://rough-polished.expert/Guinea’s diamond potential remains unknown. (In Russ.)

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download
2. Fig. 1. The main mineral deposits of Guinea

Download (640KB)
Indexing metadata
3. Fig. 2. Bauxite reserves and their production volumes in the world [5]

Download (191KB)
Indexing metadata
4. Fig. 3. Samples of clastic bauxites and laterites formed along the deluvial cover on the slope of the Mehengui deposit, Futa Jalon-Mandingo province [4] a – breccia–like bauxites along the slope deluvium; b - conglomerate-breccia bauxites along the deluvial–proluvial substrate; c - cuirass from clastic deposits of the deluvial plume at the base of the slope

Download (332KB)
Indexing metadata
5. Fig. 4. Striped goethite-hematite ore in the side of the trench, Northern Simandou [10]

Download (353KB)
Indexing metadata
6. Fig. 5. Dynamics of ore gold production in Guinea in 2011-2022. Source: https://www.ceicdata.com/

Download (114KB)
Indexing metadata

Copyright (c) 2024 Russian Academy of Sciences