Mauritania has secured a US$16.5-million loan from the World Bank for its Projet de renforcement institutionnel du secteur minire (PRISM), which is aimed at attracting investors by mapping the country’s geophysical make-up.
The former French colony will employ Geodass, a subsidiary of the Dutch company Fugro Airborne Surveying, to survey a 150,000-sq.-km area covering most of the Precambrian basement of the Reguibat Shield, to the north.
Meanwhile, the French government agency Bureau de recherches geologiques et minires will perform geological mapping, also in the north. A contractor for mapping the southern part of the country has yet be named.
Data collected from the surveys will be used to form a geological map of the West African nation, highlighting prospective mineral zones. The map will also be used to register land and issue mineral licences.
PRISM also calls for an environmental management system.
The Council for Geoscience in Cape Town, South Africa, will oversee PRISM, which runs through to 2004.
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