African Mineral Industry Geospatial Database with Infrastructure Layers

Africa's geospatial database contains 20 data layers on mineral industries and related infrastructure compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey. It includes mineral production facilities, exploration sites, undiscovered resource tracts, and infrastructure like power lines and ports. The dataset supports geographic analysis and mapping for the continent's mineral supply chains.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spatial relationship between mineral production facilities and electric power transmission lines for infrastructure planning.
• Map undiscovered mineral resource tracts for potash, platinum-group elements, and copper against known mineral occurrence sites to guide exploration.
• Overlay major mineral exporting maritime ports with railroad and major road networks to model export logistics.
• Assess the distribution of coal occurrence areas relative to electric power generating facilities for energy resource evaluation.

Strengths

• Contains 20 distinct geospatial data layers covering multiple facets of mineral industries.
• Compiled from authoritative sources including the U.S. Geological Survey and foreign governmental data.
• Provides continent-wide coverage for all countries in Africa, including international and first-level administrative boundaries.

Limitations

• The specific number of individual features (rows) within each data layer is not provided, limiting assessment of granularity.
• Data is delivered in an XML geodatabase format, which may require specialized GIS software for full utilization.
• Undiscovered resource tract data is only available for specific minerals (e.g., potash, PGE, copper) and countries (Gabon, Mauritania), indicating incomplete continent-wide coverage for this feature.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), foreign governmental sources, and open-source data.

Collection Method

Compilation and updating of georeferenced locations from multiple sources to create a unified geodatabase.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-01-21.

Geography

Continent of Africa, including all countries.