40 Years Listening to the Beat of the Earth GEOSCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN AFRICAN GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS Insight into the PanAfGeo Project

40 Years Listening to the Beat of the Earth

G E O S C I E N T I F I C K N O W L E D G E A N D S K I L L S I N

A F R I C A N G E O L O G I C A L S U R V E Y S

Insight into the PanAfGeo Project

Click to edit Master tit le style

EuroGeoSurveys - The Geological Surveys of Europe

Beginning of the project

Feasibility Study “Geoscientific knowledge and skills in African Geological Surveys” has been signed by EC DG DEVCO and EGS authorities on July 19th 2013 (Contract 323-534), with collaboration of OAGS.



OBJECTIVES

The specific objectives of the initiative were as follows:

• Enhance capacities and role of African national Geological Surveys;

• Contribute to capacity building in assessing Mineral Resources by national Geological Surveys in Africa;

• Increase activity of national Geological Surveys in regional mapping and exploration to upgrade their geoscientific information base and mineral resources inventories;

• Strengthen the level of national geological surveys geological knowledge and skills through training



M a i n e v e n t s

The following meetings and missions were also organised throughout the drafting phase of this report:

• OAGS – EGS Workshop, Accra (Ghana), 22 – 27 September 2013

• EGS – OAGS Workshop, Brussels (Belgium), 27 March, 2014

• Roundtable: “Raw materials and governance: Managing natural resources for inclusive development in Africa”, 5th EU Africa Business Forum, 2nd - 3rd of April 2014.

• OAGS – EGS Information Session during the 25th Congress on African Geology (CAG25), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), 14 August 2014.

• OAGS – EGS Workshop, Cape Town (South Africa), 8 – 9 February, 2015.



Activities of Feasibility StudyAC 1 Coordination

AC 2 Activities needed to strengthen the OAGS

AC 3 Gap analysis of geoscientific mapping

AC 4 Mineral resources assessment gap analysis

AC 5 Geohazard mapping and monitoring and Geoheritage gap analysis AC 6 Capacity building and training concept Geoscience information infrastructure and management



Activities

Collection and analysis of questionnaire replies from 25 countries



Gap analysis main resultsBased on the questionnaires completed by the African Geological Surveys, a few most prominent deficiencies are

- Lack of skilled staff and technical resources in the field and in the laboratory

- Not enough expertise to do data analysis and interpretation- Quality and availability of data on mineral resources doesn’t cover the

needs of exploration and mining

- Knowledge of environmental problems associated with mining is low - Environmental and geochemical mapping of background concentrations

is missing- Environmental monitoring systems are missing- Poor collaboration between mining and environmental authorities - ASM is challenged in many ways



Gap analysis main resultsBased on the response in the questionnaires a number of recommendations can be given:

• The OAGS members should be more involved in training of the ASM especially in simple prospecting and geological knowledge of minerals as well as evaluation of gemstone.

• There is a need for general training of trainers in issues related to ASM;

meaning staff in the OAGS members together with, national mining authority and national environmental authorities.

• The OAGS members could be more involved in development of the

mining processes used by the ASM operators with the aim of improving the outcome and through this reducing poverty.

• The issue of case study areas should be considered to be beneficial for more than one country



M a i n e l e m e n t s o f t h e P a n A f G e o P r o j e c t

The project includes the following four main elements:

• Human resources capacity building and training for OAGS members and their partners

• Development of OAGS geoscience information infrastructure and management

• Development of OAGS technical infrastructure, GIS laboratories, equipment, facilities

• Dissemination of information about the project




Specific objective 1: Coordination of the project, and responsibility for legal, contractual, ethical, financial and administrative management of the project and works of the consortium.

Specific objective 2: Geoscientific mapping- increase African-owned geological knowledge and data for geoscientific mapping- integrate institutional and technical assistance, advice relating to geological mapping, remote sensing, geochemical and ground geophysical surveys, and capacity-building where appropriate.




Specific objective 3:

Mineral resources, to contribute to the sustainable use of mineral resources, through implementation of an extensive training programme in:

• using geoscientific data in diverse ways to compile thematic maps for decision-makers and stakeholders,

• managing challenges related to ASM,• managing environmental problems related to mining by

using geosciences to understand, predict and prevent environmental impacts caused by mining activities.




Specific Objective 4:

Other geological issues

• Build strong support for geohazard aspects: methodologies; training courses and knowledge; equipment; mapping; inventory.

• contribute to the sustainable use of geological and mining heritage, with a view to conservation and public use as geotourism resources for local socioeconomic development through proposals for geoparks.





Geoscience information infrastructure and management

• strengthen geoscience information infrastructures and skilled professionals at operational level in the respective African Geological Surveys

• develop and implement regional spatial data infrastructure (SDI) for geological knowledge management and visibility of public information.


Procurement of IT equipment

• Strengthen and/or upgrade IT equipment in the pan-African regional centre and the GSO computer centres to run the regional and national nodes of the pan-African SDI for geo-resources in Africa.





Sustainability and governance plans

Formalise the actions and frameworks to be implemented by the African Geological Surveys subsequent to the project in order to ensure the sustainability of the project deliverables and improvements in geoscience information management.


Communication, promotion and dissemination

Promote and facilitate dialogue and interactions between the project partners, African Geological Surveys and stakeholders. The main goal is to increase the visibility of the project and to create a communication network raising awareness on the importance of sharing views on project issues.




Method of implementation of PanAfGeo

• The PanAfGeo project will be implemented in an institutional environment as it will involve mainly national Geological Surveys from Europe and Africa as well as their respective continental association, i.e. EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) and the Organisation of African Geological Surveys (OAGS).

• PanAfGeo project will be implemented over two distinct three-year periods (six years in total) including a mid-term evaluation stage at the end of phase 1.

• It is proposed that one EGS member (Contract Leader) takes the lead and signs the contract with DG‑DEVCO.

• The project management structure comprises three entities: Project Coordination with support of Technical Coordinator, Steering Committee and General Assembly.




Method of implementation of PanAfGeo

• The Steering Committee will be composed of the Project Coordination, Technical Coordinator, Component Leaders as well as EGS.

• The Advisory Board is a consulting body, associated to the Steering Committee. It is composed of external invited experts who represent international organisations having actual or potential links/synergies with the PanAfGeo Project.

• The monitoring system will be based both on the project results and the objectively verifiable indicators as described in the Logical Framework.



Methods of future PanAfGeo Project implementation

The proposed training sessions are as follows; twelve types of short course (SC.), basic and practical (BP.) and specialist (ST.):

SC.1 “From stepping on a stone to opening a mine”BP.1 “Remote Sensing Techniques and Mapping”BP.2 “Geology of Mineral Resources”BP.3 “Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining”BP.4 “Geochemistry and Environmental Geology”BP.5 “Geoinformation and Data Management”BP.6 “Geohazards”BP.7 “Geoheritage”ST.1 “Advanced Remote Sensing Techniques and Map Production”ST.2 “Laboratory Analysis”ST.3 “Advanced Geology of Mineral Resources”



When will we see PanAfGeo in action

Roadmap to the start of the project:

• Meeting of all project partners and the EC November 2015 to finalise details

• Contract to be signed by March 2016

• Project official launch planned for the 35th IGC in Cape Town, August 2016

HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE!


Thank you for your attention!

Documents

40 Years Listening to the Beat of the Earth GEOSCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN AFRICAN GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS Insight into the PanAfGeo Project