Created by the Presidential Decree n°1018/PR/MMPH of August 24, 2011, the Société Equatoriale des Mines has the mission, in the name and on behalf of the State, to hold and manage its participation in mining companies, as well as to undertake in the Gabonese Republic or abroad, alone or in association, any activity related to the mining sector.
The SEM is placed under the administrative supervision of the Presidency of the Republic, and the technical supervision of the Ministry of Mines.
Our Activities |
In 2015, the international community adopted a set of 17 goals as part of a new global agenda for sustainable development.
The environment is the common foundation for each of these goals, from ending hunger to reducing inequality to building sustainable cities and communities around the world. We are committed to working with all stakeholders to achieve the program's ambitious goals, especially those directly related to the environment.
Although environmental technologies have improved over the past two decades, mining still poses the risk of high impacts on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Thus, innovative and appropriate protective measures and rehabilitation techniques are systematically recommended and applied during the exploration and exploitation of mining deposits in Gabon. Mining activities are also rigorously monitored and controlled by the government and in this case by SEM and specialized agencies.
The government, through the SEM, proposes mitigation measures and strategies to minimize the environmental impacts associated with exploration and mining. The following are some of these measures:
- Thus, the understanding of the nature of the ores that are extracted as a chemical element and its importance in the economy and in the industry allows to evaluate the interest of their exploitation.
- The knowledge on the behavior of minerals in water, soil, air, fauna and flora according to various biochemical factors are listed in order to assess the extent of their impact on the environment.
- Then, the legislation governing mining activities is used to analyze the effectiveness of the governmental system to protect the environment in the event of mining operations.
- The analysis of the environmental impacts caused by the exploration, operation and closure of a mine aims to observe the changes that can be observed around the mine and the contamination of the atmosphere, soils, water bodies, fauna and flora.
- Finally, the mitigation measures listed and popularized aim to identify the best environmental practices and technologies existing in the industry.
Small-scale artisanal gold mining, also known as gold panning, is an activity that has grown significantly in Gabon over the past few decades with the discovery of gold veins in several provinces and the increase in poverty. In these regions, gold panning has become an important part of the local economy. Artisanal gold mining is an inescapable reality in rural areas, an occupation on a par with agriculture and livestock.
However, one of the particularities of this activity is its great nuisance on the environment; by the unavoidable deforestation and the abusive use of toxic and polluting chemicals of which the most common are cyanide and mercury.
Deforestation is one of the most visible impacts on gold panning sites. Gold miners wildly clear certain areas when they find new sites to exploit or to stabilize their holes with branches and tree trunks, or even for the construction of their homes. Deforestation not only leads to the loss of plant species, decreases carbon sinks, but could also lead to increased mercury deposition on sediments. Bare soil is easily eroded, which will facilitate the transport of mercury deposited on the soil to surface waters.
It is therefore more than urgent for the SEM to provide an immediate response commensurate with the dangers caused by this phenomenon.
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Main Projects |
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BELINGA PROJECT
Objectives
Make Gabon a privileged area for iron mining and a meeting place for experts from the global steel industry.
Location
- Province (s): Ogooué-Ivindo
- Nearby city (s): Makokou
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From Libreville: 535 km
Mineralization and Reserves
The Bélinga deposit is largely dominated by BIFs which outcrop in western Central Africa.
- The deposits are composed of units of magnetite and hematite.
- World-class, with reserves estimated at overa billion tonnes.
- Tonnage: + 1 billion Tons
- Content: High grade said DSO
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GÎTE DE DOUREKIKI : Substance Barite
Geology and Tectonics
- The geological context of the Dourekiki barite deposit shows at the base a slightly oriented gray biotite granite. Then we observe a succession of conglomerate levels, deep conglomerate levels, sandstone, argillite and Cretaceous silage. These formations are located outside but on the edge of the Nyanga syncli-nal.
- Barite outcrops in the form of gravel, blocks of all sizes, or fine millimeter crystals in a clay-sandy matrix.
Location
- Province (s): Ngounié
- Nearby city (s): Tchibanga
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From Libreville: 572 km
Mineralization and Reserves
- The Dourekiki barite deposit is of the eluvial type, spread over an area of more than 25ha.
- The average strength of the mineralization is 5 m, but locally it can reach 15 m.
Several heterogeneously associated facies have been observed: banded or brecciated barite (dominant), barite in crystals in a ferruginous matrix, finely grained “stony” barite of white, yellow or pinkish tint, barite with fine mineralization in a clay matrix.
- Reserves of more than 1.2 Mt of recoverable barite concentrate with an average grade all-round of 46% of BaSO4 and of which one to 65% representing half of the reserves.
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CAREER OF DOUSSEOUSSOU QUARRY: Substance MarbleObjectives
These are the "Schisto-Limestone" formations which constitute the major part of the Nyanga basin. The lower layers consist of a large fraction of magnesian limestone.
Location
- Province (s): Ngounié
- Nearby city (s): Tchibanga
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From Libreville: 572 km
Mineralization and Reserves
On the SW flank of the syncline, where the degree of metamorphism is clearly more intense than on the northeast flank, the limestones have been transformed into marble showing marmorations, banding structures, crenulations and an intense degree of recrystallization, giving a saccharoidal texture.
The Dousseoussou deposit has been recognized and has been the subject of industrial exploitation. But for reasons of profitability, caused by the lack of proper escape routes, the business has stopped.
Geological reserves are important in relation to the extent of the geological formation.
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MINKÉBÉ PROJECT : Gold SubstanceObjectives
Minkébé gold is part of Belinga group within Greenstone Belt of archean age context
Location
- 1 Province (s): Woleu Ntem
- 2 Nearby city (s): Mitzic
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3 From Libreville: 535 km
Mineralization and Reserves
- Presence of numerous alluvial gold showings and significant artisanal mining activity.
- The so-called "Minkébé" site was the subject of an eluvionary rush in the 2000s. Thus more than 8 tonnes were produced there.
The presence of ferruginous lithologies (BIF) seems an essential factor for the formation of these gold deposits and the possibility of finding significant gold mineralized bodies and thus making them World-class primary deposits.
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