Cameroon sets up Center for Geological and Mining Information

-The center in Yaounde is expected to boost Cameroon’s mining sector

Marble stones exploited by a French company in Figuil

Cameroon’s mining sector will hence better play its ascribed role as the engine to drive new industry and more jobs in the country, thanks to the Centre for Geological and Mining Information.
    According to the chief of the Centre Jean Guy Dzana, the structure which is under the ministry of mines will bring new stimulating perspective, improving the attractiveness of Cameroon’s mining sector to potential investors across the globe.
    According to the minister of Mines, Industries and Technological Development Emmanuel Mbonde mining contributes a significant percent to the country’s annual budget and this is expected to increase further if the full potential of Cameroon’s mineral wealth is sustainably exploited thanks to information provided by the Centre.
    Accordingly, the role of the structure created in October 2012 is to provide relevant information on the sub-soil wealth in the country and its geological potential to help attract investors worldwide. The structure will also collect, analyze, publish geological, mining, petroleum and gas data and reports the officials said.
    “The Centre is the specialized organ to disseminate information on mining and the geology of Cameroon’s sub-soil. Investments in this regards have been planned for the next three years to better equip the Centre and facilitate access to information to the public and potential investors,” a press release from the Centre further explained.
    In addition it serves as conservation centre for samples of mineral rocks and other discoveries, reproduction of mining and geological maps etc.
    The minister of mines says the centre will help streamline the sustainable management of the country’s mineral information and potentials.

     “ In the years ahead this structure charged with conserving and disseminating mining and geological information will help contribute in making Cameroon a mining attraction country and permit for maximum benefit from its rich sub-soil wealth,’’ Jean Guy Dzana said.
    The new information centre accordingly was born of the ashes of the former geology and mining documentation centre of the former directorate of mining and geology.
    Several innovations have since then been introduced since the restructuring and changes to permit for better functioning of the centre. These new roles include promoting geology and mining; provide information to that effect, documentation and archives as well as numerical registration.
    Recently the minister of mines announced that some four small aircraft flying at altitudes as low as 80 meters will help the country in a mineral survey scheme in six of the country’s ten administrative regions. The aircraft are small and are fitted with sensors that visualize sub-surface geological structures, he said.
     The aerial geophysical survey will cover 160,000 square-kilometers in six regions of– the Adamawa, Centre, East, North, Littoral and West.
    All information related to the survey, collection of regional atlases  on mining, photographs at national and regional level, information on risk zones in the country like Mt.Cameroon as well as information on the activities of different mineral exploitation companies are all found in the archive section of the centre, it was disclosed.