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Somalia Mining
Somalia's mineral sector was of minuscule value in the
overall Somali economy (in 1988 it represented only .3 percent of
GDP; see;
table 7, Appendix). There was some production of salt
with solar evaporation methods, mining of meerschaum (sepiolite)
in the Galguduud Region, mining of limestone for cement in the
Berbera and Baardheere areas, and some exploitation of some of
the world's largest deposits of gypsum-anhydrite near Berbera,
and of quartz and piezoquartz (useful for electronics). Somalia
also has some large uranium deposits in the Galguduud and Bay
regions, and in 1984 work began to develop them. In the Bay
Region, there are also large iron ore deposits. The development
plan in 1986 reported that results of natural gas exploration in
Afgooye near Mogadishu were negative, but indications of
favorable oil and gas resources in the country persisted
(see Energy
, this ch.). Results of testing for gold in the Ceelbuur
area in Galguduud Region and Arabsiyo area near Hargeysa had not
been published as of early 1992.
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