Theory question 113
West Africa and ECOWAS(a) On an outline map of West Africa, show: (i) one area each in a different country, important for diamond, petroleum and gold (ii) one important town in each area (iii) one route from the producing area to the port of export for each mineral
(b) Describe one method of mining any one of the minerals in (a) above
(c) Highlight four problems associated with mining in West Africa
Show the model answer
(a) Diamond – Sierra Leone (Kono district, Koidu → Freetown) or Ghana (Akwatia); petroleum – Nigeria (Niger Delta, Port Harcourt/Warri → Bonny, Forcados by pipeline); gold – Ghana (Obuasi/Tarkwa → Takoradi by rail)
(b) e.g. petroleum: seismic survey; drilling with a derrick; oil flows out or is pumped; Christmas-tree valves; pipeline to terminal; (or alluvial diamond mining – digging gravels, washing and sieving; or deep-shaft gold mining – shafts, tunnels, ore crushed and treated)
(c) Lack of capital and technology; poor transport; foreign control and profit repatriation; fluctuating world prices; environmental damage and pollution; illegal mining and smuggling; exhaustion of deposits; labour and community conflicts
Show a route to a real port for each mineral.