The Geological Survey Department which is under the Ministry of Mining has for the past years been able to provide the necessary information about geology to the general public.
Speaking during this year`s just ended international trade fair, the Principal Geologist, Joseph Chirwa said that the mandate of the Department is to collect, assess, disseminate and archive all geo‐scientific information related to geology and minerals resources of the country.
“The country has several known mineral resources and occurrences including; uranium, niobium, heavy mineral sands, bauxite, graphite, rare earth elements, coal, dimension/ornamental stones (granites, Sodalite, marble etc), industrial minerals like gypsum and kaolinitic clays, iron sulphide, vermiculite, nickel, platinum group metals, gold, copper and gemstones such as rubies, sapphire and tourmaline, also there is potential for oil and gas in Lake Malawi and areas along the rift valley’, Chirwa said.
Chirwa said: “There is mineral potential in Malawi and there is a lot of Geological information generated for the past years including the High-Resolution Airborne Data and the recently concluded country wide geological mapping and Mineral potential assessment under GEMMAP, the data can be accessed by any individual/company from the Survey”.
