Mining production will peak at 100 million tonnes per year compared to 10 million tonnes currently, said Gabonese Minister of Mines, Gilles Nembe, on Friday during a meeting between the Prime Minister of the Transition Raymond Ndong Sima and the economic operators in the mining sector.
This projection takes into account the expected opening of exploitation of the iron deposits of Bélinga (Ogooué Ivindo), Baniaka (Haut Ogooué) and Milingui (Nyanga).
To support this production, the president of the Transition, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, called on Chinese investors to build the railways and ports necessary to evacuate this production to the international market.
Raymond Ndong Sima announced the imminent arrival in Gabon of Chinese partners met during President Oligui Nguema’s stay in Beijing.
The infrastructure to be put in place will concern a railway of nearly 1,200 km, leaving from Bélinga to Mayumba, in the southwest. It will serve Makokou, Ovan, Lastourville, Tchibanga, among others. There will also be a double asphalt service road, which will open up the inhabited areas located on the railway route.
The rail network must be electric, in order to limit the carbon footprint, lower costs and electrify all the towns located on the route. To this will be added optical fiber.
Concerning the construction of a deep water port in Mayumba, it is justified, explained the Minister of Mines, by the low capacity of the current port of Owendo which is 67,000 tonnes, while the exploitation of the iron and manganese will require ships with a capacity of at least 250,000 tonnes.
The third infrastructure to be implemented will be a hydroelectric power station in Booué with a capacity varying from 400 to 600 megawatts.
Antoine Relaxe
2024-10-18 22:42:00
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