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Sua Pan

Prospect in Central, Botswana with commodities Sodium, Cobalt, Halite, Bromine
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Ownership information
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10096950
MRDS ID I000209
Record type Site
Current site name Sua Pan
Alternate or previous names Soa Pan

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: 26.00142, -20.66357 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position 180 KM NORTHWEST OF FRANCISTOWN.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Central(province)

Botswana(country)

Africa(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Botswana Central

Comments on the location information

  • IN THE MAKGADIKGADI DEPRESSION. LATITUDE-LONGITUDE IS FOR THE APPROXIMATE CENTER OF SOA PAN.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Sodium Primary
Cobalt Critical Primary
Halite Primary
Bromine Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Brine Ore
Halite Ore
Trona Ore

Analytical data

Result AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF THE BRINE IS 26.0 G/L NA2CO3, 140.0 G/L NACL, AND 14.5 G/L NA2SO4 (MANNION, 1983).

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Lake Sediments
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Evaporite

Nearby scientific data

(1) 26.00142, -20.66357
ListMap

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Both
Significant No
Year of first production 1991

Mining district

District name Makgadikgadi Pans

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Soda Ash Botswan (Botswana Government - 48%, African Explosives And Chemicals Industries (Aeci) Of S

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • THERE ARE 130,000,000,000 CUBIC METERS OF BRINE.

Comments on the workings information

  • 40 WELLS WILL BE SUNK TO A DEPTH OF 35 M WITH A LINKING NETWORK OF 85 KM OF SURFACE PIPE LINES OVER AN AREA OF 200 SQ. KM.

Comments on development

  • OVERALL CAPACITY IS PLANNED AT 350,000 TAP SODA ASH AND 700,000 TPA SALT. FIRSTSALT PRECIPITATION WAS TAKING PLACE IN NOVEMBER, 1990. ; ECON.COM: TARGET MARKETS ARE SOUTH AFRICA AND ZIMBABWE. SITE IS REMOTE. BOTSWANA HAS COMMISSIONED AN ENTIRE TOWNSITE, CALLED SOWA, FOR THE DEPOSIT. THE NEAREST RAILHEAD IS AT FRANCISTOWN. THIS IS BOTSWANA'S ONLY MAJOR MINERAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT AT THIS TIME. PLANT WILL COST R920 MILLION. ENVIRONMNETAL PROTECTION IS OF "PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE" WITH THIS PROJECT AND EACH CONTRACT CONTAINS STIPULATIONS IN THIS REGARD. MALARIA IS ENDEMIC IN THIS AREA. RAIL LINK SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY FEB., 1991. THE PROJECT WILL PRODUCE FROM 57 WELLS OVER AN AREA OF 25 SQ KM.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    MINING MAGAZINE, 1990, PANORAMA: V. (MAY), P. 320-321.

  • Deposit

    DE KUN, N., 1987, MINERAL ECONOMICS OF AFRICA: NEW YORK, ELSEVIER, P. 265.

  • Deposit

    MINING MAGAZINE, 1990, PANORAMA: V. 163, NO. 5, P. 323-324.

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1990, WORLD OF MINERALS: NO. 278, P. 13-14.

  • Deposit

    INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1989, WORLD OF MINERALS (BOTSWANA): NO. 256, P. 11, 13.

  • Deposit

    MANNION, L.E., 1983, SODIUM CARBONATE DEPOSITS, IN LEFOND, S.J., ED., INDUSTRIAL MINERALS AND ROCKS (NONMETALLICS OTHER THAN FUELS), 5TH EDITION: NEW YORK, SOCIETY OF MINING ENGINEERS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGICAL, AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERS, INC., P. 1187-1206.

  • Reserve-Resource

    DE KUN, 1987.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit LAKE BED COVERS AN AREA OF 3500 SQ KM IN THE MAKGADIKGADI DEPRESSION. THE CHEMISTRY OF THIS SYSTEM IS REPORTEDLY "IDENTICAL" TO SEARLES LAKE, CALIFORNIA. THE BRINE LARGELY OCCURS IN A SAND AQUIFER OVERLAIN BY SAND AND CLAY LAYERS TOTALING 30 M THICK.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-90 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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