African Countries and Their Mineral Resources: A Complete List

This list of African countries with their mineral resources covers the biggest producers of gold, cobalt, copper, diamonds, platinum, manganese, bauxite, phosphate and more, using figures from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The main African mining countries are covered below. Africa is a leading source of several minerals the world relies on, but production rankings change every year, and no list can name every country and every deposit. We focus on the countries where we could verify the numbers, and we say clearly where the figures come from and which year they cover.

A quick note on the data. Country figures below are USGS estimates for 2024 unless we say 2025. Some figures include small-scale and artisanal output and others do not, and USGS revises its numbers over time, so use this as a starting point and check the USGS pages for the latest.

Africa mineral resources by country: the headline picture

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) dominates cobalt. South Africa leads in platinum, chromium and manganese. Guinea leads in bauxite, and the gold cobalt diamonds Africa exports come from a handful of key countries. Ghana, Mali, Tanzania and South Africa are major gold producers. Botswana, the DRC, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola are the key diamond countries. Morocco holds a large share of the world's phosphate reserves. The sections below go region by region.

Central Africa: cobalt, copper, tin and manganese

Democratic Republic of the Congo

USGS ranks the DRC as the world's leading cobalt producer, with about 75% of global output in 2024 and an estimated 226,000 tonnes of cobalt content. Its 2026 Mineral Commodity Summaries estimate DRC cobalt at 230,000 tonnes in 2025 out of about 310,000 tonnes worldwide. The DRC is also the world's second-ranked miner of copper (about 13% of global output, roughly 2.99 million tonnes in 2024), the leading producer of tantalum (about 51%), the second-ranked producer of natural industrial diamond (about 18%) and the fifth-ranked tin producer (about 9%).

Gabon

Manganese is Gabon's leading mineral. USGS ranked Gabon second in the world in 2024, with about 25% of global production.

Southern Africa: platinum, chromium, diamonds and copper

South Africa

In 2024 South Africa ranked first in mined platinum (about 70% of world output), chromium (about 46%) and manganese (about 40%). It was second for palladium (about 38%) and for rutile and zircon (about 22% each). Gold output was about 90,208 kg, which placed it twelfth globally with about 3% of the world total.

Zimbabwe

USGS lists Zimbabwe as the third-ranked platinum producer (about 10.3%), fourth for lithium excluding the United States (about 9.0%) and fourth for palladium (about 7.0%). It also mines chromite (about 2.0 million tonnes of ore in 2024), gold (about 38,454 kg) and diamonds.

Botswana and Namibia

Diamonds are Botswana's leading mineral. USGS reported about 5.44 million carats of industrial diamond in 2024, around 13% of the world total, and total diamond output that is roughly 70% gem quality. Namibia ranked fifth for gem-quality diamonds (about 2.3 million carats, 3.4% of world output) and produced about 7,333 tonnes of uranium in 2024, which the World Nuclear Association puts at about 12% of world output.

Zambia

Copper is Zambia's main product. It ranked eighth among world miners in 2024 with about 3.6% of global output, and it also produced about 1,410 tonnes of cobalt in concentrate.

Mozambique and Madagascar

Mozambique was the second-ranked producer of ilmenite and third for zirconium concentrates, and fourth for graphite, but graphite output fell about 64% in 2024 after mine shutdowns and interruptions. Madagascar ranked first in mica (about 24%), second in graphite (about 5%), and also produced cobalt and nickel. The USGS 2026 summary lists Madagascar's 2025 cobalt output at about 3,900 tonnes.

West Africa: gold, bauxite, manganese and tin

Ghana

Gold and manganese lead. Ghana ranked sixth in the world for gold in 2024 with about 5% of production, around 149,785 kg including about 59,090 kg from artisanal and small-scale miners. It ranked fourth in manganese in 2024 (about 7%), and its bauxite output was about 1.69 million tonnes. In the 2025 estimate in USGS's 2026 summary, Ghana moves up to third for manganese at about 2 million tonnes of contained manganese, behind South Africa and Gabon.

Guinea

Guinea ranked first in bauxite in 2024, with about 33.2% of world output, and the 2026 USGS summary estimates its 2025 output at about 150 million tonnes out of about 440 million tonnes worldwide. USGS also notes large undeveloped iron ore resources, and lists gold, diamonds and alumina among its products.

Mali

Mali is an important regional gold producer. Industrial mine output was about 51,000 kg in 2024, down from 67,000 kg in 2023, with artisanal output of more than 6,000 kg not included. USGS reports that gold accounted for about 10% of GDP in 2023.

Nigeria

Nigeria's output includes limestone (about 53 million tonnes crushed in 2024), tin (about 3,100 tonnes of contained tin), gold (about 2,646 kg) and an estimated 90,000 tonnes of lithium ore. USGS notes a major lithium processing plant commissioned in Nasarawa State in 2024. Nigeria also produces iron ore, lead, zinc, niobium and other minerals, though USGS gives less detail on some of them.

East and North Africa: gold, graphite and phosphate

Tanzania

Tanzania produced about 61,680 kg of gold in 2024 and natural graphite of about 38,140 tonnes, making it the fifth-ranked graphite producer at about 2% of world output. It is the world's only source of tanzanite, and gold and diamonds together made up about 41% of exports by value.

Morocco

Morocco was the second-ranked phosphate rock producer after China in 2024 (about 15% of world output) and ranks first in reserves, with an estimated 50 billion tonnes, about 68% of the world total. It also produces cobalt, copper, zinc, lead and silver; one subsidiary of Managem produced about 1,286 tonnes of cobalt metal in 2024.

Critical minerals Africa produces: what changes the rankings

Rankings shift for several reasons: mines open, close or restart, prices change, governments change rules, and small-scale mining is counted differently from year to year. A few examples from the USGS data:

• Manganese 2025 estimate: South Africa about 7.6 million tonnes, Gabon about 5.0 million and Ghana about 2.0 million, out of about 20 million worldwide.
• Industrial diamond 2025 estimate: Russia 16 million carats, DRC 7, Botswana 5, Zimbabwe 5, South Africa 3, Angola 1.
• Graphite in Mozambique: down about 64% in 2024, while Tanzania's output rose from 13,500 to about 38,140 tonnes.
• Mali gold: down from about 67,000 kg to about 51,000 kg between 2023 and 2024.

The natural resources of Africa include critical minerals such as cobalt, manganese, graphite, lithium and platinum-group metals are in demand for batteries, electronics and clean-energy equipment. Whether a country benefits depends on how much processing happens locally, which is a policy question rather than a geological one. If you are interested in non-mineral exports, see our guide to top agricultural export products from Africa.

Trading in minerals: legal and practical cautions

Mining and mineral trading are heavily regulated. Gold, diamonds and some other minerals need licences, export permits and traceability documents, and sanctions or due-diligence rules apply in some regions. This article is general information, not legal advice, and it is not an offer to trade minerals. Confirm current rules with the relevant national mining authority and your lawyer before you buy, sell or export raw minerals, and beware of unsolicited offers of gold or gemstones, which are a common route for scams. Our scam alert page explains common warning signs.

Frequently asked questions

Which African country has the most minerals? No country leads everywhere. The DRC leads in cobalt, South Africa in platinum, chromium and manganese, Guinea in bauxite, and Morocco in phosphate reserves.

Which African country produces the most gold? In the USGS 2024 data, Ghana produced about 149,785 kg and South Africa about 90,208 kg. Tanzania produced about 61,680 kg and Mali about 51,000 kg. Check the latest USGS figures, as artisanal output is counted differently across countries.

Where does the data come from? From USGS country pages for 2024 and the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 for 2025 estimates.

Can Comilmart help with raw minerals? This guide is general information only. Comilmart is a marketplace connecting buyers with verified manufacturers, wholesalers and vendors across Africa; see what is listed on the marketplace before you assume a product is available.

Getting started

If you make products from industrial inputs and need verified suppliers, you can post what you need through RFQ sourcing or browse the supplier directory. For selling finished goods online, see our guide on the most profitable products to sell online, and learn how cross-border e-commerce in Africa works.