TheRepublic of Somaliland is characterized by a considerable number of ore deposits including base metals, beryllium, neobium-tantalum, rubidium and cesium, rare earth elements and precious metals, and non-metallic industrial materials such as kaolin, sepiolite, Na- feldspars, amazonite, kyanite and gypsum. Dimensional stones are also widespread, although they need intensive and careful studies in order to bring them to the market. In addition, variety of precious and semiprecious stones that are scarcely known to the scientific community occur in several areas, particularly in the metamorphic basement areas. The few data in the literature are in fact not described and studied with the most modern exploration methods, presently available. This very short geological investigation presents a preliminary exploration survey on some of these occurrences and deposits and tends to partially fill this gap.
Somaliland forms an extension of the Mozambique belt which consists of metamorphic basement. Somaliland encompasses a variety of metallic and nonmetallic minerals and petroleum prospective geological settings, with exploration by a number of international companies ongoing on both. The
main areas of mineral interest are: a large failed rift-related sedimentary trough, Proterosoic and Archean metamorphic basement, the northern reaches of the Mozambique belt, hosting numerous metallic and nonmetallic occurrences, including rare earth elements, gold, copper, as well as precious and semiprecious minerals.
This preliminary geological work is only the result of twelve days activity in several areas of the country to present the most common rock types and their associated mineral assemblages as well as to draw in brief some of mineral occurrences and deposits. We tried to avoid mentioning any other resources studied and/or reported by other institutions and companies.
