361The Mineral Industry of 
Gabon 
By Candice Stevens1 
 
 
 In the late 1970's, Gabon ranked as Africa's fifth largest petroleum producer,
the world's third largest manganese producer, and an important supplier of
uranium. The mineral sector was the dominant contributor to the country's
economy and accounted for about 60% of the grosS national product (GNP) in
1978 and 1979. Ambitious investment plans, however, left the country suffering
from an external debt of over $2 billion2 in 1978. A shortage of foreign
exchange was compounded by an inflation rate of 20%, declining petroleum
production, and escalating costs for Gabon's major development project, the
Trans-Gabon Railroad. In 1978, Gabon adopted an austerity program with technical
and financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The ambitious
third 5-year plan (1976-80) was scaled down from its original planned expenditure
of $3.5 billion. In 1979, the economic stabilization program acted to lower
the inflation rate to 11%, reduce the external debt to $1.6 billion, and
improve the balance of payments. Gabon was preparing a moderate fourth 5-year
pian (198185) in consultation with the IMF. 
 Emphasis was placed on petroleum and mineral exploration in Gabon. Extensive
prospecting for gas and oil was ongoing both onshore and offshore by a number
of foreign companies. The National Geologic Service in conjunction with the
Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)
(France)
continued its geologic survey and mapping program. The focus was on leadzinc
anomalies in the Kroussou region and copper occurrences in the Mayumba and
Nyanga regions. The Gabonese Government was negotiating with Aeroservice
Corp. (United States) for a project aerial survey of 
Gabon's mineral resources which was to provide the basis for a new series
of geological maps and an overall mineral development strategy. Also in 1978,
Gabon was host to a conference of mangane~e-producing countries who discussed
means of improving the global terms of exchange and trade in manganese. 
 Completion of the Trans-Gabon Railroad was postponed from 1981 to 1987 as
construction of the 700-kilometer line fell behind schedule. In December
1978, the first working segment linking Owendo and N'Djole was inaugurated.
Yet to be completed were a 155-kilometer section between Booue, Moanda, and
Franceville. It had not yet been decided whether to construct a third section
between Booue and Belinga, a distance of 250 kilometers. It was estimated
that $900 million had already been spent on the railroad, which was to link
the Moanda manganese mines, the Mounana uranium mines, an4 the Belinga iron
ore deposits to a new deepwater port at Santa Clara. Construction by EUROTRAG,
a 13-company European consortium, was under the general supervision of the
Office du Chemin de Fer Trans-Gabonais (OCTRA). 
 A $100 million mineral port was under construction at Santa Clara, located
25 kilometers north of Libreville, by Soros Associates (United States). The
port complex included 800 meters of protective* breakwater, storage capacity
of 4 million tons, and berths to accommodate ore carriers up to 280,000 deadweight
tons. Initially, 150,000-deadweight-ton ore carriers were to be loaded at
a rate of 10,000 tons per hour. Completion of the port was to coincide with
commissioning of the Trans-Gabon Railroad.