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TauTona mine is one of the three AngloGold operations in the West Wits region in South Africa.

SA 'richest' country in the world

Sake24 | Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:02

[miningmx.com] -- South Africa is the world's richest country in terms of its mineral reserves - worth $2.5 thousand billion - according to research by the American banking group Citigroup, reports Bloomberg.

The Citigroup report, which was compiled by its mining analyst, Craig Sainsbury, says that Russia comes second after South Africa, and Australia third.

The research states that South Africa, Guinea, the Ukraine, India and Kazakhstan all have mineral reserves unrelated to energy worth more than $200bn.

Mines in these countries also all have average life spans of more than 100 years at current rates of exploitation.

Countries like Guinea and Kazakhstan with high resource values but limited mining activity could see greater demand from the world's biggest mining companies and foreign wealth funds, the report continues.

Sainsbury says Chinese mines have an average 17-year life of mine, according to surveys by the US Geological Survey system.

Sainsbury says it's no wonder that China continues to invest massively in metals and mining, Bloomberg reports.

He says that China is expected to continue investing in copper and iron ore, together with energy resources like coal and uranium.

Of South Africa's $2 500bn worth of reserves, $2 300bn resides in the platinum group metals.

Russia's iron ore reserves are valued at $794bn - more than the Australian iron ore reserves, which are estimated to be worth $737bn.

Iron ore reserves in the Ukraine, according to Sainsbury, are worth $510bn, and Guinea has bauxite (aluminium ore) worth $222bn.

In dollar values Guinea, South Africa, India, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan are the countries that under-produce the most in terms of their reserves, says Sainsbury.

India will need to increase its domestic production rates, especially in light of its economic upturn. But bureaucracy and national protectionism will probably scare off any foreign investors, the report declares.

- Sake24.com

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