Green Mineral Profile

Madagascar

Overview

Overview

Madagascar is a key player in Africa's mineral landscape, with significant reserves of graphite and nickel. The country's graphite deposits are particularly notable, with almost half of its projects in advanced planning stages or production, supplying high-grade graphite for lithium-ion batteries. Additionally, Madagascar is a major nickel producer, with its nickel often processed to battery-grade quality.

Overview

Key green minerals

  • Madagascar and Mozambique were tied as the third largest producers globally of graphite in 2021.
  • Madagascar accounted for 6% of global production in 2021, with a total production of 70,000 metric tons. It held 8% of global graphite reserves in 2021, with the total reserves of 26 million metric tons.
  • Madagascar placed as the eighth largest producer of cobalt globally in 2021, with the production of 2,800 metric tons and reserves of 100,000 metric tons.
  • Madagascar accounted for 2% of global cobalt production in 2021 and holds 1% of global cobalt reserves.
  • Madagascar was the sixth largest producer of rare earth minerals in 2021, with a production of 6,800 metric tons (2%).
Graphite
reserves
0 %
Share of global reserves
(26,000,000 tons)
Graphite
production
0 %
Share of global production
(70,000 tons)
Cobalt
reserves
0 %
Share of global reserves
(100,000 tons)
Cobalt
production
0 %
Share of global production
(2,800 tons)
Pattern

Major mining
projects

The Molo mine is located in the Toliara province and is a superior quality graphite deposit which can achieve near battery grade purity. The mine ranks as one of the largest known and highest quality flake graphite deposits in the world. The project is fully owned and operated by NextSource Materials, a Canadian mining company. 

Ambatovy mine is a major industrial operation mining and refining nickel and cobalt. It is one of the largest foreign investments in Sub-Saharan Africa and ranks among the largest nickel mining companies in the world. Operational since 2014, the project is a joint venture between Sumitomo Corporation (54.17%) and Korea Resources Corporation (33%).

Processing capacity and value-addition initiatives

Processing capacity and value-addition initiatives

The vast majority of graphite concentrate produced in Africa is shipped overseas, typically to China.

There are efforts underway to establish graphite processing capacity in Tanzania and Mozambique. 

Processing capacity and value-addition initiatives

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