Mining industry of the Central African Republic
The Central African Republic's mineral resource endowment includes copper, diamond, gold, graphite, ilmenite, iron ore, kaolin, kyanite, lignite, limestone, manganese, monazite, quartz, rutile, salt, tin, and uranium. Of these commodities, only diamond and gold were produced in 2006 - subsistence farming was the mainstay of the economy.
In 2006 the World Trade Organization estimated that the mining sector accounted for about 7% of the gross domestic product. Rough diamonds and timber were the country's leading export products.
However, in December 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor report on labor conditions around the world contained a List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor that mentioned diamonds as a good produced in such working conditions in the Central African Republic.
Production
Production of gold and diamonds, which is mostly artisanal, comes from the regions of Berberati, Haute-Kotto, and Haute-Sangha. In 2006, diamond production increased to about from a revised in 2005; diamond exports, which were mainly destined for Europe and Israel, amounted to about and were valued at $59 million.Structure of the mineral industry
Production and trade of diamond and gold are overseen by the Bureau d'Evaluation et de Côntrole de Diamant et d'Or. BECDOR maintains the country's diamond and gold production database and assesses the value of diamond parcels that come from the various diamond-exporting companies that operate in the country.Commodities
Gold
Axmin Inc. of Canada continues to explore for gold in the country. A pre-feasibility study for the Passendro Gold Project was completed by GBM Gold Ltd. of the United Kingdom in early 2006. It was followed by a feasibility study conducted by Senet Ltd. of South Africa, commissioned during the third quarter of 2006. The pre-feasibility study had envisioned an open pit operation with a gravity carbon-in-leach processing plant that would process about 3 million metric tons per year of ore with production estimated to be about 6,200 kilograms per year of gold.Other companies exploring for gold in the country included Prospero Minerals Corp., and Tamija Gold & Diamond Exploration Inc. of the United States, and London-based Pan African Resources plc.
AXMIN Inc. was stripped of its license to mine gold in Ndassima in 2019. It was instead awarded to Midas Ressources, a company run by Wagner Group.
Diamonds
In 2006, Energem Resources Inc. of Canada continued to focus on the development of suitable diamond prospects within its Bangana, Bria, Kotto, and Quadda concessions in the Haute-Kotto and Bamingui-Bangoran prefectures. Canadian Vaaldiam Resources Ltd.’s plans to explore for diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes in the country continued to be put on hold during the year as the company focused on other priority exploration areas elsewhere in the world.Other companies exploring for diamond included Pangea Diamondfields Plc, which planned to invest $3.2 million in a bulk sampling plant for its Dimbi project concession area, and Gem Diamonds Ltd., which held exploration and mining permits for the Mambéré river project near the city of Berberati.