“Sierra Leone, as a country rich in mineral resources, possesses not only diamonds, but abundant bauxite, rutile and iron ore resources; among them a large amount of new reserves of iron ore and bauxite have been acquired in recently years.
We are looking forward to cooperating with Chinese counterparts,” said Sahr Wonday, Director General of National Minerals Agency(NMA),Sierra Leone, during the International Geological Survey Directors Forum of CHINA MINING on October 18, who participated in the Forum for the first time. He voiced the minds of eight Geological Survey Directors from countries including Argentina, Papua New Guinea and Sudan.
“The highlight of the Forum is that we can bring together and share various mining knowledge and technologies, jointly discuss experiences in exploration and development in relevant countries,” said Naphan Mosusu, Acting Managing Director,
Mineral Resources Authority,Papua New Guinea.
Compared with him, Mohamed Abu Fatima Abdallah, Director General of Geological Research Authority of Sudan (GRAS), appeared to be more straightforward. He introduced the rich mineral reserves of Sudan and its domestic cooperation with over 360 foreign companies from the United States, Australia and other countries bluntly. He also mentioned that China and Sudan were comprehensive strategic partnerships with their Geological Survey establishing good cooperation. Sudan would provide convenience and security for investments from China.
In 1996, PetroChina entered Sudanese market. It not only helped Sudan establish Khartoum refinery, but formed a complete petroleum industry system comprising exploration, oil recovery, oil pipelines, refineries and ports, which turned Sudan from an oil importing country into an oil exporting country with a complete industrial chain.
Ahmed Benlakhdim, Director of Geology, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Morocco, presented their ongoing geological and mineral mapping projects. Being hailed as Garden of North African, Morocco owned phosphate reserves which ranked first in the world, and Bou Azzer deposit, the only mined mineral deposit in the world. Since 2015, the Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment of Morocco has done three tasks in mineral resources, including the further modernization of mining equipment and the preparation of national geological and mineral maps. He said with confidence, "At present, we have 10 cooperative projects with China in mapping. We believe that the completion of maps will grant us more investment advantages in North Africa, and bring more concrete targets for Chinese mining investment.
In Papua New Guinea, mineral resources contributed 50% of the economy aggregate to the country's economic development. But with the decline in global commodity prices, the country’s economic development faced enormous challenges. To this end, Naphan Mosusu was keen to further carry out projects in fields such as geochemistry, geological mapping, and encourage more exploration and development.
Julio Argentino Ríos Gómez, Director General of the Geological Survey of Argentina, hoped to work with Chinese mining departments to further explore the underlying minerals of silver and gold in Argentina. Michael Henry Stephenson, Deputy Director of the British Geological Survey, brought a collaborative project between the British Geological Survey and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology. Directors from Bolivia and Mali expressed their strong willingness to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of geosciences with a view to promoting the development and prosperity of international geology.
The Directors have unanimously expressed the hope of the cooperation in geosciences and geological surveys, the communal building and sharing of geoscientific information for the purpose of promoting national mining cooperation, reducing corporate investment risks, and achieving mutual benefit and win-win results through the establishment and use of bilateral or multilateral cooperation networks and platforms.
Wang Yan, Deputy Director of China Geological Survey, Ministry of Natural Resources China, summarized that the China Geological Survey has signed more than 300 MOU and project cooperation agreements with 63 countries around the world. There were common responsibilities to essentially further the cooperation among bilateral and multilateral scientific researches and mining enterprises, and strengthen the win-win development of mining.
In the fleeting three hours, geological survey directors present discussed challenges and opportunities and explored the construction of a new all-win pattern, enjoyed a feast of mineral resource explorations and geoscientific exchanges by dint of the platform granted by CHINA MINING Conference and Exhibition. (Zhao Lei) (Translated by TLRHVC)
About CHINA MINING
Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.
CHINA MINING Conference and Exhibition 2018 Was held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin in October 18-20, 2018. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2018, please visit: m.balanzskin.com.
