• West Africa has more potential than any other region on the planet. Its geology is exceptionally prolific.
• The region is the third richest in gold deposits in the world, after Australia and Canada.
• Three countries are now among the top five African gold producers, starting with Ghana (the former Gold Coast), which has become the continent's biggest producer with 142 tonnes extracted in 2019, ahead of South Africa (118 t), Sudan (76 t), Mali (61 t, with fifteen industrial mines in operation) and Burkina Faso (51 t, fourteen mines).
• New mining codes drawn up by various countries to attract and secure foreign investment have encouraged the gold boom and the arrival of operators from all over the world. For example, it takes just one year to obtain a mining permit, compared with at least five years in North America.
• The main challenges facing governments and industry professionals are insecurity linked to jihadist attacks in the Sahel, the energy deficit and the high cost of electricity, as well as the need to regularize artisanal mining and regulate gold panning,
• In 2023, gold continued to trade at high levels, ending the year with a gain of over 13% compared with the end of 2022. It was in this favorable environment that several new gold mines came on stream on the continent, while other projects are set to join them in 2024.

• West Africa has significant potential for diamonds, rivaling some of the world's most prolific regions. Its geology offers ideal conditions for the formation of these precious stones.
• The region ranks among the world's leading diamond-producing areas, albeit behind such giants as Russia and Botswana.
• Trois pays dominent désormais le secteur des diamants en Afrique de l’Ouest : la Sierra Leone, célèbre pour ses diamants de qualité exceptionnelle, a extrait environ 760 000 carats en 2019. Le Liberia, avec 230 000 carats, et la Côte d’Ivoire, avec 150 000 carats, suivent de près. La Guinée, également un acteur notable, a produit environ 100 000 carats.
• Government reforms of mining codes to attract and secure foreign investment have boosted diamond production, attracting global investors. For example, an exploration permit can now be obtained in two years, compared with more than seven years in South Africa.
• The main challenges facing governments and diamond industry professionals are insecurity due to armed conflict and political instability, the need to modernize transport and energy infrastructures, and the need to combat the illicit diamond trade and regularize artisanal mining.
• En 2023, le marché du diamant a connu une croissance, avec des prix en hausse de plus de 9 % par rapport à fin 2022. Ce contexte favorable a vu la mise en service de plusieurs nouvelles mines de diamants sur le continent, tandis que d’autres projets devraient voir le jour en 2024.

• Bauxite contains 40-60% hydrated aluminum oxide, mixed with silica and iron oxide. The latter gives bauxite its characteristic red color.
• 4 tons of bauxite are needed to obtain 2 tons of alumina, from which 1 ton of aluminum is extracted by electrolysis.
• Bauxite is a member of the sedimentary rock family. It comes in a wide variety of colors and structures. Bauxite can take on white, red or gray hues, depending on its iron oxide content. iron et en alumine (Al2O3). C’est d’ailleurs de ces roches que sont extraits l’aluminium et le gallium.
• To be considered an aluminum ore, however, this rock must meet certain criteria. Its silica content must not exceed 8%.
• En plus de l’aluminium, la bauxite est également utilisée pour la production de gallium, un métal dont le point de fusion est très bas (moins de 30 °C) et qui est utilisé dans la fabrication de matériaux semi-conducteurs.
• Avec une demande croissante en aluminium, l’exploitation de la bauxite ne cesse d’augmenter. Récemment, elle a été considérée comme l’une des matières premières critiques pour l’économie européenne.
• Bauxite has the peculiarity of liquefying under certain conditions, making it difficult to transport by ship. For several years now, China has been flocking to Guinean bauxite, which accounts for 40% of Chinese imports. Guinean bauxite has a high alumina content. According to several sources, Guinea is home to a third of the world's bauxite reserves (around 25 billion tons). With recent discoveries, other sources estimate Guinean reserves at over 40 billion tones.

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• By 2035, all cars sold in Europe will be electric. By 2050, members of the Old Continent are expected to consume over 4 million tonnes of lithium per year. The European Commission considers lithium to be a critical mineral.
• Most of the world's reserves of this mineral are found in Bolivia (21 million tonnes), Argentina (19 million tonnes), Chile (9.8 million tonnes), Australia (7.3 million tonnes) and China (5.1 million tonnes). The main producers today are Australia (47%), Chile (30%), China (15%) and Argentina (5%).
• With a view to diversifying its sources of supply, the European Union is always on the lookout for new suppliers. With Goulamina, Mali would become West Africa's leading lithium producer, and thus an ideal partner.
• Lithium, an indispensable and precious material for electric vehicles, is sometimes referred to as the oil of the 21st century or white gold.
• Between the beginning of 2021 and the end of 2022, the price of lithium simply exploded. From around 8,000 euros per tonne at the start of 2021, its value soared to over 80,000 euros in December 2022. While lithium hydroxide, the derivative of lithium when mixed with water, is an essential component of batteries for smartphones, laptops and tablets, it is the automotive sector that is one of its biggest consumers.

• By 2021, the material was being mined in just fifteen countries, 45% of them in Kazakhstan, far ahead of Australia, Namibia and Canada with around 10% each, Uzbekistan (7%), Russia (5%), Niger (4%) and China (4%). Kazakhstan's activity has gained 10 points in ten years, to the detriment of Canada and Niger, whose output has halved, but above all the USA, which has almost entirely disappeared from the picture. Half of all production comes from just ten mines worldwide, and the single Cigar Lake site in Canada produces more than Niger and Russia combined.
• Since the Fukushima disaster in 2011, the price of uranium concentrate, also known as yellowcake, has stagnated at between $40 and $60 per kilogram, before rising again in 2021 as a result of the health crisis. Unlike oil, there is no umbrella organization of uranium-producing countries to steer prices. Only the government Kazakhstan has set up a quota mechanism to regulate uranium prices to its advantage.
• If nuclear power simply maintains its current 12% share of the global electricity generation market, annual uranium requirements in 2035 will exceed 100,000 tons of uranium per year.
• However, according to the IAEA and OECD-NEA, nuclear power generation could increase by 80% by 2035.
•  New mines are needed to meet rising demand.
• Uranium prices are expected to rise as demand increases.
• As prices rise, more uranium deposits will become exploitable.