FEDERAL D-TIC REPUBLIC OF W I O P X A

MINISTRY OF HI#=

GEOLOGICAL S U m m Y OF m 0 P L A

INDUSTRIAL MINERALS AND ROCKS

RESOURCE POTENTIAL OF
ETHIOPIA

Compiled by: TlBEBU MF,HQlSTU

HMLE MICHAEL m A W
~&iinek-mums n important natural asseg aod it is in e
d o n ' s €test-ts to talimulate a greater m d e W d h g of its
hxdigenoops wdth. Informaton on the extent, quality and

, for effective and informed decision, which is critical to meei the

objectives of sustahable development

To fulfil the above objectives the Geological Survey of Eihiopie

(GSE) was established in 196% as a national institution
mpomible for geoIogial mapping ground and airborne
geophysid m e y s , mineral exploration and eydustion, as well
as gmtechnical, hydrogeoIogical and g e o t b d rmctivi~es.In
additioq, the Survey colIec.t%,archives m d - disseminatw earth
science information to create awmness among the popdstti~tl.

Accordingly. this ediths has bRen prepared for w e to d i h t

&&oldem in ~ B Zmining sector: the pupme Mich is w

far by GSE on industrial rainet.als and rocks

* Of E t b p i a it is
b

importrust a note that t h i ~publication &pesmtsts importam

dscummtatim of fkcummt stat@ of knowledge an *i
mimrds a d & # in the c o u n ~ .HopfWy, this
compilation wiU p v i d e an incentive Eor work by
S i mmpilation work an Metallic mine& will be p u b M
- in +shart t&w in order to disseminate a complete infunnation on
.aW spectmm ofmined reso- potential of the muntry.
REGIONAL GEOLOGY AMI ITS RELATION TO THE OCCURRENCE OF
INDUSTRIAL, M I N E W .-.................
mUU,.m,.m~mm.............~~.,~~.~.
---.3

I . SEDIMENTARY ROCKS AND MINERALS AND RESIDUAL DEPOSITS -..5

1.4. t KAOtfN..................................................................................................................... 8
1.4.2 B m m ..........................................:.......................................................... .
.............lo
t
1.4.3S m u m CUY ....................................................................................................... 11
......................................................................................
m BR~NES
1.5 E y ~ w AND 12

1.8.1 COAL ..-...;.............................................................. ..... ...........+.--...--........ 21-

1 .8.2 .........*................ .............................................. .-...-..... ..-...-. ....-.,-.-..- 22-
'2, IGNEOUS RQClKS AND MSOCIATED I N D U m m C 'El
 23.3 ..-......--...-..... . .*.**--,......-..........*...................................... ...........,,-....3s
A METAMORPHIC ROCKS ANDD- INDUSTRIAL MINERMS .38
 Local glass, ctramica and
cemmt hdu&ies partly u w
-indutmial raw r r a a t d a h are limestone, clay, pumict, marble,
mlcialfortbeacorwmic gypsum, siIia sand, kaolin,
development of any country. fddspar, quartz and soda ash
depsits. Other mineral% such
and m h of the as potash, phosphate, ilmenite,
bentonite, diatomite, mt
e ,

dependable supply of gad and taIc, are also availaMe in

large gumtiti-, but their
mate~Wa as well as a wide application has becn rather
r a n p of industrial m i n d and limited.
rocke.
Ethiopia dsa has great potential
Despite the availability of of hydrotIectric Power,
significant number of industrial geothermal energy, and other
C I
m i n e d resources, Ethiopia has hy-n energy sources
been importing raw materials such as ooaf, oil W e , =turd
and related products to 'supply gas, and others. Roper
the existing industries. Theae utilimtton of such energy
include lime, fillers, pigments, ' rewureea along with the
glass, flux tuiterials, rehctory avtdablt indu- min- will
bricks, bemtonites, diatomite. o~nt@uk' to the, aonomic
and others. development of the country.

The industrid mineralresources

of the country occur in various
rock fmmatiom- (metamorphic,
sedimentary and mkanic)
' p ranging in age from the
Precambrian to the R e n t .

, Geological Survey of Ethiopia I

 Jelenc (1966) was the first to
give the general overview af both
EW&a ia mated in nmtheast metalk minerals and indusbial
M.It has an area of 1,12 minerala/rwka O C C of ~ ~

million Sq. Km and a ppdation Ethiopia. S h then,

of about 65 million. exploration for various
industrial minerals has k e n
Systematic m i n d expbmtion carried out in -t of
. in the country 8- in the the country. More rwxntly
1970's and led to the diacmmy 'Abera (1994) and Mcngistu
of many metallic mineral (2000) briefly rwitwad the
deposits ( m p l e , gold and industrial minerals of the
tantalum) and industrial raw country. This paper is at
material for manufactwing of compilation of the recent
cement, ceramiq glaaa, findings and interpretations,
'fedism, and etc. ExpIomtion and attempts to inmrp~ateall
1!
for some of the d, geotbennal the known occummms and
energy and natural gas deposits, and reviews their
occumnces has also M n application, geology, location,
completed. Little is known to resource
. -
potentials, qhality and
date about the occurrences of c u m t utilhtion. It is
gem minerals, bu't p r o s p c h g accompanied %with1: 2 000 a#]
is underway by the private scale g e n w w b g i d and
sectors. industrial minerals murrence
map of Ethiopia (Fig. 1).
Mining companies are cumntly
(Superscript in the text refers to
engaged ia exploration for
locations W t e d h figurc
further gold and base metal .I
11,
occumces in different regions
of the country. Efforts are dm
being made to develop the
-thermal and gas energy
 -
widely distributed in Ethhph.
These rocks &re found in the
The geology of Ethiopia can be northern, central, and
grouped into three major units, southeaakm parts of the
namely the m b r i a n counby aud cover 24% of the
basement, late pa!aoeoic to total area of the country 2).
Memic mentary The succession is w t e d
succcesion,. and Tertiary- - by minor g~acialdepoaita ( a k s

I Quaternary v o W m
e e n h (Kmnh, 1972).

The Precambrian m h of
and of the n m c m and ematern
regions), several hundreds of
met- thick d s t m e and
limestone formation with minor
Ethiopia are d exposed in the
interhis of ahale, marl, and
- northern, western,
t. gyperum. These dqmita provide 4
southwestern, southern md
significant raw matttlals for
eastern parts of the country and
t
cement, ghtw and construction
cover 17% of the tow rn of
industries.
the oounby (Fig. 4). These rocks
comprise a wide variety of meu- - The Tertiary to Quaternary
sedimentary, meta-volcanic and ~Icianics a r ~associated with
meta-intrusive rwks, which .
the mlutbin
. d the East African
have been subjected to variable Rin sy&. 'Phc Ah r&
degrees of metamorphism and
1 deformation. In general the
Precambrhn mda host most of
the known iredustrid mineral8 and pumiceous ash. The
and T&S such as feldspar,
marble, granite, tdc, graphite, of the country of which Tedaq
kyanite, mica, kaolin and plateau badb mw?r twenQ-
I
,qua&, five ptrcent of the area (Fig. 3).

I , Geokb&atSn~of~hpia 3
 T&hy -my roclce we styenib, and pbonolitc phqp
A in t h f - ~ g a d ~inq thc . a dflows) and rn m a h ~ yfound
Damdd -dm, and in the in the -brim basement a~
lower Umo lRiver Valley, and
- -
well as in the E t b p a n Rift
ndcc up to abut 8% of the Valley.
country. Thm rocks consist of
Genetic chsdimtion of
sand~tone, timestonc,
conglomerate, rnudstqnc, shale, industrial minerds and racks

, gypsum, anhydrite, m d other

has been adopted in the
foiloaring discussion8.
types of evaporites.

Quaternary sediments w a r
throughout the country and
were formed as kcustrine as
well as marine formations. They
.. camprise limestones, clay,
1, siltstone, sand, volatn~~lastic~

and others, and cover abut

11Yo of the total area of
Ethiopia. The economic
of the .Cenozoic
importance
merits and vo1canic rocks a s
induskid min.eds resources is
demonshted by the presence of
various construction materials,
po-4 salt, m um ,
bentonite, diatomite, pumice,
sulphur, etc.

- In &&on, there am

ELUEaline and acidic intrusive

 Jurassic to Q-t@=W
1. SEDIMENTARY . b e t o n e is the most abundant
ROCKS AND Mlmmus
mktypeinEthiQpia
,ANDRE8IDUAL
DEPOSITS Limestones are mainly pupad
into Mesomic sequence (e.g.
The *nthuy rocks of the
Mektle outlier and the Blue Nile
country consist of the -&tone
Baain) and to
and m t e s of Fbhmic age, the
sequence, which includes the
Ogaden B a s h and the hmkil
succesrd~, and the mriy to
I
Depression ( A k a , 2994). Both
upper T
- sdments IFig.
calcitic and dolomitic -nc8
2). The reddud deposits of rift
occur in Ethiopia The otment
a c n t s and pmexishg
and lime indushh are the
rocks, and 'industrid m i n d s
main consumers of limestones
h Ethiopia. So far, the
- be dhuased under this topic.
limestones of Mosmbpl
(Mengistu, 1993), the Mu&-
1. X C m B m A T E Vdey and Dire Dawan
(Oumerov, 1981) haw been well
Carbonate rocks include
. -lored
- for ntibktion in the
limestone, chalk, carbonakite,
cement production vabk 1).
vein calcite, tmwrthe, shells,
aragonite, dolomite, magndtc
and iron carbonate.

found within the Jurassic

Antalo limestone and the
HamanZei &. The best
aggregates, dhmsh stone, eqm~urttra d m a hbrcsthg
pigmat- or hntr, w e , and d e p i t s of the iWalo limestme
c&mcnt production, glass, aoda art bund in the central part of
a&, steel making, a g a r the kbay valley, and withill the
.dining, mil-tiam etc. tributariwa of : Abay River
 Dvesion. -sib of
relatively better quality are

-
, mstrict.ed to the central part of
the 'sift amd include the Gade
,-t lis~, T* Motam, Adamituluw, Chefe
IubrWttng oil, swimming pocrl, JilW and Abiyata51 deposits.
water 'treatment etc.) Di+tomite All known d e w are of
has hghtncss of btlp to 90%, lacustrine origin and of Tertky
refrawt indm of 1.42-1.49, to Pleistocene in age.
low bulk denaitg, inertness and
The Main Ethiopian Riff, due to
moderate h c t u r i n e s a , high
abaarptive capacity, and high its wide spread d k i c v a h h m
and lacustrine basha, is the
surface arm. These properties
muat favorable site for the
allow it rn be used as filler
accumulation of k s h water
fmt~ PU~PS rubber,
pharmaceuticals etc.).
dbtomite &piits. piff
volcanism a d t e d with
Diatomite may be u d as mild
sediment supply and basin
abash [toothpaste, pIish).
Based on its inwtness, high formation, pun4 water
.chwni&ry and hydmthemd
gurfacc area, luw b u w value, *

activity, caldera cokpse and

&tomik, can abmrb 2 to 3
times its own weight of liquid formatio~, bf k w t r i n e basin
and *.thus act aa d e r maymu* pmvidc a b l e
enuhnmtnt hr the f m t i o n d
(pesticide), ~~ (ptr lit*
w@ treatment), and catalyst diatomite* w& level of
carrier.
dswlvad silica and abkwuant
nutrient in the lake water give
More than 12 diatomite rise to condims, wbich favor
oceurrencctr rn idtntifiad in rapid and accumulation
E t W p h m 2 ) . Mokdthtm + of 'dbbmahur m, which
Wted in the ?&in compact anb m t c r to. h
diatmnik,
 The Qada Matts cal$era, for quality diatomite~can a h be
GWCIas peacue d m , -,
v g l ~ t a c t o n i c structure of t R d inatdating material and
about 15Km diameter. Tbe rim lightweight bricks (Ha&
of the caldera riaMl up to 4- Michael, 1989).
a m the's m ~ n d k g
p W . It
Thc tow msourcc of w e
I is mainly c o m e of fiyolite
Motta, Adami Tulu, Chefe JiUa
and consolidated &tor-kin
and Abjlata diatomite is more
tuffamus siltstones of lower
than40 million tonsofwhich
Pleistonce .
'
The whole
about 85% ia contxibuttd by
*uence is overlain by
, Qade Motta diatomite.
brecciated pumice and
pumiceous. ash and glassy
ignimbritc.
. ,

The high-grade ores of Chefe

Jilla, A d a d Tulu and W
' a
Motta have SiOl, -3, Fez03 Consolidated d s t o n e may be
I and C ~ Oin the range of #.5- crushed for a@-=tC

86.5%, 3.1-3.7%, 1.5-2.496,a d (copsmtiojn) ahd if

0.1-1.9%,respctively Vabk 61- a e e t h c t i q at-, cut and
Slightly higher values of shaped int0,ydGa or dabs - for
alumina, iron and d i u m can building'. (dimension ; stme).
%

be ascribd to the. mmdation of Whtn sandstone, siIica sand

I volcanic ash, clay and and quartzite are crushed or

cahrmus -tions. ground they are sourcc?~ of SiOl
I ~ccording to their physiw- and used for w, aramlca,
chemical c~~ the and chemical induatxiea snd are
1. high quality diatomite can be fluxhgm&inimnmdmkcl
used for lilation and aa indu&ta. Silica is a priqdpl
gha-forming oxide making
I-
catalwt carrier in chemical
inhuetry, * m e relative@ lower appmximaw the ~ d . -
 -lime-siliui
. . .- &as batch. Silia Complex and me overlain by the
s a d h hmt &bitan# to Jurraeic Antalo limestone,
, a ppm x
h m w 1,470oC and is Amba M o m fannution and
used as foundry sand in the Ttrtiolryvobnics*
mmufacfmhg of molds. In
g e n d it a n be used in the The &ca sand d m & of

manufacturing of glass and Enticho Sqdstone at the

ccdcs and for hltration, l d t i c s of Edaga Hamua and

foundry, - - d u n silicate Senkata arc gm&Q trphitk to
grey, medium to coarse grairMd
synthesis, &rot of silicon
metal, aggregate, mhctory, and and at place8 b h k d , The
ttc.
thickness of the sandstone
ranges from 15 - 3Om.
Cretaceous mdgtonts are the According to Tadelle {19%), the
61ourccsofsilh sand in average g~ulometric
Ethiopia. Silica m d occurs in composition of the silica q n d
i!
the Mugher ~alley2~,in the ranges between 62% and 65%
Jemma-Wonchit River basin, for a size fraction bttwcen
and in the Enticho4 u k t e of 0.63mm and 0. lmm and the
Adigrat Group of Tigray region. coarser fradtionC (>0.63mm)
ranges from llOh to 30%.
The silica s m d d m W of
Enticho area are p u p d within
.
Chemical ahdyses of %&aka
silica."sand shows 88.4-99.6%
the L Dmr ~ i c - M ~ i cSi02, 0.1-0.33% Fe?03 m d 0.1-
sediments that fmm lower part 0.6% Al& Fable 2). It seems
of the Adigrat Group. The rocks podble to obtain high quality
of the Adigrat Gmup comprises
material by washing, sieving
of three formations {WIand, and attrition so that the raw
19801, namely -Enticho material can have acceptable
gradt for the sheet glass
and Adigmt rrandatonts, which
'
manufacturing.

' G#I0gk#I sunny of mhioph

 / 4 -
F
,
+

. A ...
6' ?'
*"
lkpW&o11 '"m- the. M u m ' 1.8 COAL 6 OIL SEAIa
- vaqe~ prwen the
Ethionia i~ one of the African
akcmrence of gu& .qUdi@ sand ,
countries with gmat potential of
that is a1Eitabb-fut.uaein bottle
hydroeIectric power, geothermal
and she& glasr factdcs (Tab?
energy and other hyd-bon
2). The fiddis A h a h Bottie surd
energy sources (such as cod, oil
Glass Factory hwe ?xmusing
shale, naturd gas, and ctc:)
washed sand from ' Mugher
valley with good success. The development of both 'cod
and oil shde is dependunt upon
Regarding building stone, the
the accumulation of organic
best potential of sandstone liea
matter in a reducing
within the thick, red M series
environment in an area
of the Adigrat Sandstone along
undergoing relative subsidence.
an axis from Ambo in the south,
Coal is mainly a product of
k through the Abay Valley to terrigenous plant material
1

Tigray in the north (Fig. 2).

whereas oil shde forms by the.
Exploitation is mainly confined
accumulation of floating algae
in the deposits near to the town
and other planktpnic,org'anisms
of Ambo. Here, the cross-
in an aqueous environment;
'

bedded, red and white

either lacustrine or restricted
sandstone is worked to ashlars,
marginal.,m*e. - Cod and oil
split bricks and s l a b with the * b

shale formation requires an area

help of simple tools such as
that must be protected from
sledgehammers, wedges and
detrital influx and the plant
qowbars (Biaien 1962, Heldel
material has to accumulate
et al. 1997). Ppoducts are
under anaerobic conditions.
distributed throughout most of
Such oxygen-free environments
~thio~ia
even
, though a major
are ge~erally produced under
part of the production is used in
stagnant waterin swamps,
the capital Addis A h h a (Walle,
lagoons and lakes where oxygen
is removed by decaying

Geological S u m of ~ l l ' i o ~ i a 20
+
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