🇳🇬 Nigeria Boosts Oil (Though Modestly)

Nigeria has reportedly increased daily oil production to 1.7-1.83 million barrels and the number of active drilling rigs from 31 in January to 50 by July 2025.

❓The reforms are attributed to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Comission's (NUPRC) "Drill or Drop" and "One Million Barrels Per Day" initiatives.

However, launched in October 2024, "One Million Barrels Per Day" originally meant the increase in production by 1 million barrels per day by October 2026.

So far it increased from 1.6 a year ago to 1.83.

It's unclear whether Nigeria will eventually meet its ambitious goal, and whether it is worth at all given the persistent surplus on crude oil market.

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🇬🇭 What's Wrong With Ghana's Gold

On Friday Ghana's president held a meeting with civil society representatives intended to discuss solutions to Ghana's "galamsey" problem - massive illegal gold mining that poisons rivers and causes deforestation.

"I don’t gain anything from galamsey. I’m not personally involved in galamsey. I have no interest in galamsey continuing", said the president.

Over the past decade Ghana tried:
👉 Teprorarily banning small-scale mining
👉 Vice-versa expanding legal small-scale mining by massive license distribution
👉 Deporting foreign nationals involved + restricting visa granting rules
👉 Transferring the monopoly to buy gold from small-scale miners to the Gold Board, created in April 2025

What's interesting is that none of this had really had any significant impact yet. Partly this is the reason why some in Ghana are calling on the president to declare a state of emergency.

How exactly the latter can help fix the "galamsey" problem is once again unclear.

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🇧🇼 Botswana And US To Strike A Deal

🌏 The country's president claims Botswana and the US will soon conclude an agreement reducing the US import tariff on Botswana's diamonds.

The negotiations are in an advanced stage. We are on the verge of reaching an agreement.

The African country, in return, will grant the US heavenly business conditions - priority access to its critical minerals, reduction of non-tariff barriers, plus self-imposed committment to accept certain US standards.

❓ In August Trump introduced additional duties on Botswana-originating products.

While some countries can afford a go-f*ck-yourself response to such actions by the US, Botswana has no choice but a sign contract with the devil as its diamond-reliant economy is still suffering from a plunge in diamond prices.

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🇨🇩The DRC Will Punish Lawless Miners

🌏 According to a Reuter's insider, the DRC is going to pointedly permanently and ban cobalt exporters that violate its new quota system.

The desire to uphold prices is easy to understand. Though the DRC'd better increase its revenue by harnessing illegal artisan cobalt mining.

The video shows the consequences of an illegal mine collapse in the DRC in 2023.

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🇳🇬 Nigeria's Oil Stealers

🌏 The Nigerian Army has reportedly destroyed 41 illegal refineries and recovered about 49,300 litres of stolen crude oil in September-October.

❓ Oil theft-related losses in Nigeria peaked at 102,000 barrels (11,970,000 litres) in 2021. Since then daily stolen volumes had contracted tenfold (officially) as of July, 2025.

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🇨🇮 Barrick Sells Mine To An Ivory Coaster

Canadian Barrick has announced it sells its 89.7% stake in Tongon gold mine to the Atlantic Group, a major ivorian multisector investor.

📈 For Ivory Coast the deal marks the 1ST time a local company takes control over a major gold mine;

📈 For the Atlantic Group it's a viable and still (after many years of exploitation) profitable asset, that will supposedly generate revenue up to at least 2027;

📉 For Barrick it's another step in assets optimization, and not the most profitable one (China's Zijin allegedly offered $500 million for the same mine, which is now being sold for $300 million)

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🇳🇬 US Aims For Nigeria's Minerals?

Yesterday US' republican congressman Riley M. Moore publicly called for the recognition of Nigeria as a country of particular concern citing an alleged persecution of Christians.

Nigeria is the deadliest country in the world for Christians and the world stands by silently.

That's why I'm urging Secretary Rubio to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern to unlock diplomatic levers to protect our brothers and sisters in Christ.

👁 If there's more to it than a mere cry for attention, the US may be aiming to strike another Best and Beautiful Deal of The Century (imminently leading to a Nobel Peace Prize) regarding Nigeria's solid minerals.

Just a reminder - China has already opened at least 2 lithium processing facilities in Nigeria, with up to 3 enterprises on various stages of development.

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📍Who Really Digs It Up?

As news slows a little, we've decided to speak about the real power players behind Africa’s resources. First up gold.

Africa now accounts for roughly a quarter of global mine supply—about 1000 tonnes in 2024—though the majority of large-scale output comes from FOREIGN operators.

In Africa 10 biggest gold miners are:

👉 Barrick Gold (Canada): operating in DRC (Kibali - 45%), Mali (Loulo-Gounkoto), Tanzania (North Mara, Bulyanhulu).

👉 AngloGold Ashanti (United Kingdom): operating in Egypt (Sukari), Ghana (Obuasi, Iduapriem), Guinea (Siguiri), Tanzania (Geita), DRC (Kibali - another 45%).

👉 Newmont (United States): operating in Ghana (Ahafo).

👉 Gold Fields (South Africa): operating in Ghana (Tarkwa), South Africa (South Deep).

👉 Harmony Gold (South Africa): operating in South Africa (multiple underground operations).

👉 Endeavour Mining (United Kingdom): operating in Senegal (Sabodala-Massawa), Ivory Coast (Ity, Lafigué), Burkina Faso (Houndé, Mana).

👉 B2Gold (Canada): in Mali (Fekola Complex).

👉 IAMGOLD (Canada): Burkina Faso (Essakane).

👉 Perseus Mining (Australia): operating in Ghana (Edikan), Ivory Coast (Yaouré, Sissingué); advancing Tanzania (Nyanzaga) and holds Sudan (Meyas Sand) project.

👉 Resolute Mining (Australia): operating in Mali (Syama), Senegal (Mako); advancing Ivory Coast (Doropo project).

How many genuinely African companies are there in African gold mining? We'll speak of it next time.

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🤔 Senegal’s Vicious Oil Circulation

🛢 In the twisted world of supply chains no one would be surprised to learn that Senegal, having its own large crude oil deposits, imports refined fuel products from abroad. After all, there is only one modest refinery.

However, the Senegalese love oil SO MUCH that they also import crude oil from Nigeria.

It turns out, not only the Senegalese unique refinery produces very humble output (30,000 barrels/day), but it also fails to process local sorts of oil. So they found Nigeria’s crude more suitable.

💵 As a result, Senegal is deprived of foreign currency twice. I wouldn’t even dare to imagine what a horror is unfolding on the pages of their balance of payments.

However, despair thou shalt not. There is also a hope for deliverance for Senegal’s oil sector.

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❤️ Goldman Sachs Proposes, COMEX Disposes

In our observation of African mining developments we cannot leave unattended today’s trading ⚡️ BREAKING ⚡️ (though mostly symbolic) news - a spot ounce of gold has decisively took the long-besieged fortress of $4000.

Once upon a time (a week ago) there was an affordable (not to say miserable) $3800, with heavy-weight analytics (like Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Research and others) foreseeing $4000 somewhere in the middle 2026.

While the consensus now is further consistent growth, for our cause there are 2 significant trends to observe:
👉 How governments will strengthen mining-related regulations in pursuit of higher public revenues
👉 How states bestowed with golden wealth will dispose of their newfound incomes and where they'll funnel it

After all, the paradox of plenty was coined for a reason.

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🇨🇩 DRC Reveals Underpayments

🌏 Mining companies operating in the DRC underreported $16.8 billion in revenue in 2018-2025, leading to $50.4 million in lost contributions to local community development funds.

"The mind of man is capable of anything - because everything is in it, all the past as well as the future"

wrote J.Conrad in "Heart of Darkness" in 1899

Very meaningful 👐, but what he probably didn't mean is that in 2025 mining management's minds would be occupied with number juggling in an attempt to save a needy multibillion-dollar corporation another dozen million dollars on local development.

The video shows a recent BBC capture of work conditions at a coltan mine in the Eastern DRC.

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📍The development of local communities is not an option (and mostly not charity).

In the world where wild capitalism is curbed by social and governmental restraints, investing in the life around mine can allow to buy cheaper services of the locals (since they do not run away from a company's mines) and attract more non-local specialists (since there will be more to their leisure time than watching grass grow) - to say nothing of gaining popular support for certain business-favourable policies.

🇿🇼 From Ore to More: Zimbabwe Urges Internal Processing

🌏 Harare called for investments in internal mineral processing, pairing a crackdown on graft with tighter oversight of miners.

“To the processors and off takers, the era of raw mineral exports must give way to beneficiation and value addition”,

said Vice President Chiwengo

Zimbabwe remains one of Africa’s most consistent and successful champions of domestic processing.

Having imposed restrictions on raw lithium exports in 2022, Harare went on to ban as well the export of lithium concentrates (in force from 2027).

📈 Since the enactment of the first restrictions, 5 brand new facilities were constructed in Zimbabwe, which process lithium ore into concentrates.

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🇨🇩 Gold Fever Reaches the DRC

🌏 The DRC's Central Bank has announced its plan to build up gold reserves. Despite producing over 40 tons of gold annually, the DRC has historically maintained virtually no official gold reserves.

According to the Central Bank's recently appointed Head,

"that will not only reinforce the franc but also permit the franc to be traded internationally because it will be backed by reserves in gold, above and beyond dollar reserves."

📍 Supposedly, to this end the Central Bank is planning to acquire the gold produced loclly, a strategy already in place in Burkina Faso, Nigeria and South Africa.

However, the DRC does not have its own gold refineries (see the pic), which means that the Central Bank will have to purify purchased gold at its own expense somewhere abroad.

👁 Otherwise, in case of an economic emergency, the Central Bank may find itself buried under a mountain of 70% doré gold no one wants to buy.

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📍 Hold The Gold

When Mansa Musa passed through Cairo in 1324, he spent and gifted so much gold that local prices plunged for years. Africa still glitters, but, as we showed in our recent material of the continent's top gold miners, most industrial output is booked by foreign corporations.

❓ Today we decided to figure out who are the leaders in the quest for genuinely African gold production.

Behold the top 10 African-founded gold producers:

👉 Sibanye-Stillwater (South Africa): 705,00 oz/year (21,900 kg)

👉 Centamin (Egyptian-founded): 470,000–500,000 oz/year (14,600–15,550 kg)

👉 Nguvu Mining (Ghana): 250,000 oz/year (7,780 kg)

👉 Pan African Resources (South Africa): 186,000 oz/year (5,790 kg)

👉 MIDROC Gold (Ethiopia): 112,000–129,000 oz/year (3,490–4,000 kg)

👉 Kuvimba Mining House (Zimbabwe): 116,000 oz/year (3,600 kg)

👉 Ariab Mining Company (Sudan): 93,000 oz/year (2,900 kg)

👉 Dallaglio Investments (Zimbabwe): 88,100 oz/year (2,740 kg)

👉 Thor Explorations (founded by a Nigerian and Nigeria is the operating base): 85,000 oz/year (2,650 kg)

👉 Shalateen Mineral Resources (Egypt): 29,200 oz (≈ 900 kg)

With more countries pushing local refining there’s a real opening for African businesses to scale from pits to processing — and ensure that the next gold story isn’t just about who digs, but who spends creates the value.

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🇧🇼 Botswana: 24% Home or Don’t Come

🌏 Botswana has started enforcing a 24% local ownership rule for new mining concessions. If the state chooses not to buy the stake itself, companies must sell 24% to local investors or firms.

"Anyone who has two shirts should share at least 24% with the one who has none",

Luke 3:11, if I'm not misspelling

Botswana is not the first to introduce an obligatory local share for new enterprises:

👉 South Africa: 30% under the Mining Charter for new mining rights

👉 Zimbabwe: 51% in strategic minerals

👉 Ghana: 10% government free carry in mineral rights.

👉 Tanzania: 16% government free carry

👉Namibia: 5–20% progressive by development stage.

This further strenghens the trend towards local value creation and broader taxation of mining projects in the era of ever-rising commodity prices.

By the way, this genuinely global trend also shows why accusing the some governments (e.g. Mali, Niger etc) of resource nationalism is nothing more than partisanship or inability to see the whole picture.

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🇲🇱 Mali’s Loulo Prepares to Blast Again

🌏 Mali’s provisional administration will restart blasting at Loulo–Gounkoto mine on October 15, four months after Bamako took control of the mining complex from Barrick amid a dispute over the new Mining code.

📉 Due to the prolonged dispute engendered by Barrick's unwillingness to comply with the new Mining code of 2023, Mali’s industrial gold output has fallen 32% year on year.

📑 This month the World Bank's arbitration court is expected to rule on the legitimacy of the provisional administration establishment. The latest developments look like a sign of Mali's resolve to go on running Loulo-Gounkoto without his majesty Barrick's highest consent.

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