Editorial Overview:
- Ethiopia Somali Zone: Natural Resources small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower. ;
- Somalia: Natural Resources uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt.;
- Djibouti: Natural Resources geothermal areas.;
- Eritrea: Natural Resources gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish.
Oil companies including Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) are crossing their fingers that their former concessions in northern Somalia will be honored now that the country is coming out of nearly a decade and a half of chaos.
The newly installed government said it would start offering concessions for oil, gas, and mineral rights in a few months.
Finding out whom to ask about those rights is not easy in the war-torn country.
According to Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, companies should direct their inquiries to the new Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia. However, that government has been ensconced in the neighboring country of Kenya since its inception and is s till looking for a safe way to operate in Somalia.
Plenty of local authorities await companies who are not careful about whom they deal, Gedi said.
While many Western countries were looking at Somalia's resources before the country's descent into civil war, those countries may find getting their concessions back not as easy as getting them in the old days. Some concessions formerly held are now hard to trace because they existed in parts of the country that are no longer parts of the current country. New concessions may be hard to get as the government attempts to legislate the management of its natural resources before it gives its okay to explore and pull any of those resources out of the ground.
Somalia's fledgling government says ready for oil and Mineral Deals
Djibouti, August 30, 2005 - Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi told reporters in Nairobi foreign firms should now deal exclusively with the new Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia. Somalia's fledgling government said on Sunday it should be ready to start offering oil, gas and mineral concessions "in a few months" -- but sternly warned foreign firms from dealing with the wrong people.
The Horn of Africa nation's resources were attracting attention from the West, including major oil producers, before it descended into chaos in 1991 with the toppling of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.
In the 14th bid to re -install central government in Somalia, the TFG was formed last year in the relative security of neighboring Kenya and is now trying to set up at home, hampered by internal divisions and the continued power of warlords.
Gedi cited the case of an unnamed Australian-led joint venture that he said had offered some advances to authorities in the northern region of Puntland for oil and gas exploration. "Foreign companies/investors should stop their attempts of dealing with local administrations/authorities like in the case of Puntland State of Somalia without prior consent from the Transitional Federal Government," he said in a s tatement.
"Any violation of this statement will result in negative consequences and the external and/or internal culprits will take the responsibilities on their shoulders." Somalia lies across the Gulf of Aden from the Arabian peninsula and next to Ethiopia's Ogaden region, which has proven reserves of natural gas.
"CONTINUOUS" INTEREST
Companies including Total , Amoco , Chevron and Conoco and Phillips -- which have since merged into ConocoPhillips -- held exploration concessions in northern Somalia in the 1980s.
Gedi said his government was "continuously" receiving applications to explore, produce and market Somalia's resources.
"But unless the government puts in place specific legislations for natural resources management such as a national hydrocarbon law, it will be categorically impossible to give concessions for exploration and production of such natural resources," he said. Gedi said "it will take a few months" to complete the preparatory and legislative work for concessions.
"I appeal to the friendly countries of the world and the international organisations to help Somalia in safeguarding its natural resources from any illegal violators," he added. The Western firms declared force majeure in Somalia following the collapse of the ce ntral government in 1991.
That is a clause in a contract exempting the parties from obligations as a result of conditions beyond their control.
Analysts say 14 years of war and anarchy in Somalia has left a complex legal legacy. Some of the old explora tion concessions were in a part of northern Somalia that is now within the territory of Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991.
"We will review all the old concessions," Gedi said, without giving more details.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf told Reuters last week he had not read the old contracts but planned to see them. Gedi said foreign governments including China had been talking to the Somali government about possible investment in energy. Sources: (Reuters) HAN's DATA & Information Background: 2004, There are Strategic Mining and Oil in Somalia By Hassan Ali Hussein, Ph.D.
The US and UK Oil firm: They did and Accurate mineral exploration in Somalia, since 1954 It is not easy to answer the above question without understanding the geology of Somalia and surrounding regions (e.g. Ethiopia , Sudan , Yemen etc) where gold is currently mined.
Most of the African continent has been tectonically stable from orogenic episodes since about 500 million years ago. The Neoproterozoic (Pan African) orogenic episode have led to differentiate the continent into two major features: (i) cratons which have not suffered major orogenic deformation and metamorphism and (ii) mobile belts made up of rocks which are stable since 550 millions ago (Vail, 1985).
Somalia is a part of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS) that underlies several countries, mainly Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen and Egypt. These different areas during the Neoproterozoic, share a very similar geological evolution (accretion of volcanic island arcs) with mineral deposits formed by similar processes (epithermal, mesothermal, VMS gold deposits).
In view of geological and geotectonic setting of Somalia (especially northern region), it is broadly similar to that of surrounding regions where Neoproterozoic rocks (low- to high grade meta -sedimentary and meta -volcanic rocks) record a succession of mild collision, which resulted from the successive accretion of island arcs. The earlier generation of gold mineralization in those regions formed in an island arc setting related to the waning stage of tectono volcano activity. Consequently, during Pan African orogeny that induced regional deformation, metamorphism, magmatism, collision of micro plates and crustal thickening, gold has been remobilized and reconcentrated either in the zones of metamorphic permeabilities and in collapse breccias (Hussein, 1999).
a) Gold mineralization in the above mentioned regions occurs in different forms corresponding to different geological environment and at least three types are present: a) Premetamorphic mineralization associated with stratiform massive sulfide deposit, e.g Northeast Sudan .
b) Gold mineralization related to the regional tectono-metamorphic episode. E.g. North East Sudan, West Saudi Arabia.
c) Gold mineralization related to shear zones, e.g. South Ethiopia, West Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, North East Sudan.
According to my knowledge, systematic geological mapping using satellite images/remote sensing, detailed litho-stratigraphic classification and accurate mineral exploration had never been conducted in Somalia, except, preliminary exploration work done by Russian geologists in the early seventies. Their works mainly consisted of some geochemical exploration studies in different part of Somalia searching mineral deposits including gold.
Equally, UNDP had done several geological and geochemical investigations in the north Somalia in early eighties. However, it has been discovered several base metals and gold occurrences in north Somalia.
Related Article written by Eng. Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein, MSc.; FGS (Engineering Geologist)- 05/2001
No doubt, Somalia has precious metals including gold, zinc, silver but I strongly suggest a detailed investigation for gold and sulfides metallic over me ta-sedimentary and metavolcanic rocks has to be performed. The investigation should be included a detailed geological mapping using Landsat imagery and GIS. Unfortunately, the above geological tasks can not be carried out unless the current chronic instability and violence in Somali halt and Somalis bring peace and flexible solutions. However, the growing Somali higher institutions can establish geosciences faculty and take responsibilities of collecting and archiving all previous geological data about the nation. They can also carry out and organize workshops and seminars on the Somali minerals, water and environmental issues in close contact and cooperation with international universities, organizations and local NGO's.