Equatorial Guinea - Mining

Petroleum, the country's leading industry and export commodity in 2002, was associated with Equatorial Guinea's rapid economic growth since 1996; natural gas was the country's fourth-leading industry. Geological surveys indicated occurrences of bauxite, alluvial gold, copper, diamond, titanium-bearing sands, ilmenite beach sands, lead, phosphates, zinc, iron, manganese, tantalum, and uranium in Rio Muni; there has been no significant exploitation. A 1981 law stipulated that all mineral deposits were state property, and the Mining Law was under revision in 2001. Artisanal miners produced 500 kg of gold in 2001, and clay, gravel, and sand were also presumably produced.