Zimbabwe

Imported Inorganic Chemical Elements, Oxides and Halogen Salts in Zimbabwe, 

Country of Origin Rank Value (000 US ) % Share Cumulative % 

Source Philip M. PARKER, Professor, INSEAD, copyright 2002, www.icongrouponline.com 

3 ASIA INORGANIC CHEMICAL ELEMENTS, OXIDES AND HALOGEN SALTS IMPORTS IN 2002 

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The principal ore is chromite, which is found in Zimbabwe, Russia, Transvaal, Turkey, Iran, Albania, Finland, Democratic Republic of Madagascar, and the Phillippines. The metal is usually produced by reducing the oxide with aluminum. 

Corundum. Comndum [1302-75-5] (see Aluminum compounds) is a naturally occurring massive crystalline mineral composed of aluminum oxide. It is an impure form of the gems mby and sapphke. Prior to 1900 comndum was an important abrasive for the production of grinding wheels. Today it is mainly employed as a loose abrasive for grinding and polishing optical lenses. Almost all the world s supply of comndum now comes from Africa, primarily from Zimbabwe. 

All countries listed are included in Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) except for Argentina, Cuba, Cypress, Egypt, the former GDR, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Malaysia, Malta, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, the former Yugoslavia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 

Extensive PGM deposits, similar geologically to the Bushveld Complex, exist on the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe. There has been extensive exploration in the 1990s, but as of this writing (1995) exploitation has been delayed. Should the operation proceed, it has been estimated that Zimbabwe could produce up to 4.7 tons of platinum, 3.4 tons of palladium, and 0.35 tons of rhodium annually. 

Rubidium [7440-17-7] Rb, is an alkali metal, ie, ia Group 1 (lA) of the Periodic Table. Its chemical and physical properties generally He between those of potassium (qv) and cesium (see Cesiumand cesium compounds Potassium compounds). Rubidium is the sixteenth most prevalent element ia the earth s cmst (1). Despite its abundance, it is usually widely dispersed and not found as a principal constituent ia any mineral. Rather it is usually associated with cesium. Most mbidium is obtained from lepidoHte [1317-64-2] an ore containing 2—4% mbidium oxide [18088-11-4]. LepidoHte is found ia Zimbabwe and at Bernic Lake, Canada. 

The evolution in the world production of asbestos fibers since 1950 is illustrated in Table 5 (5) after a peak near 1980, production leveled off after 1985 at 4.2 4.3 X 10 t. Changes in the production of the two main producers, Canada and the former USSR, over the same period are also illustrated. These figures show a substantial decrease in the Canadian production with a concomitant increase in the former USSR production. During recent years, several other countries, namely Brazil, Zimbabwe, and China, have substantially increased their production of chrysotile. Most of China s production, as well as the limited production of many other countries, is used in local industrial appHcations. South Africa is the only country where the three main types of asbestos are produced (chrysotile, crocidoHte, and amosite), and the only significant producer of amphibole fibers. 

Table 3 summarizes the world s production of natural graphite for 1986—1988 (9). As of 1990, the deposits of significant commercial interest were limited to those of Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Madagascar, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Austria, the RepubUc of Korea, Norway, Russia, Ukraine, People s RepubUc of China, and Zimbabwe. 

The three physicaUy different forms of natural graphite, which provide essentiaUy different commodities, are in Sri Lanka (lump), Madagascar (flake), China (flake and amorphous), Brazil (flake), Zimbabwe (flake), Germany (flake), Norway (flake), Mexico (amorphous and flake), and the RepubUc of Korea (amorphous). 

Zimbabwe. This country has one large crystalline flake graphite mine, the Lynx, located between Harare and Lake Kariba. The mine is underground and is being mined on four levels for ore averaging 35% carbon. 

During much of the nineteenth century, the United States was the principal world producer of chromite ore (37). However in the latter twentieth century the United States has become completely dependent on imports from South Africa and Turkey (chromite) South Africa, Zimbabwe, Turkey, and Yugoslavia (ferrochromium) and the Philippines (chromite for refractory brick). 

Russia and the RepubHc of South Africa account for more than half the world s chromite ore production. Almost all of the world s known reserves of chromium are located in the southeastern region of the continent of Africa. South Africa has 84% and Zimbabwe 11% of these reserves. The United States is completely dependent on imports for all of its chromium (4). The chromite s constitution varies with the source of the ore, and this variance can be important to processing. Typical ores are from 20 to 26 wt % Cr, from 10 to 25 wt % Fe, from 5 to 15 wt % Mg, from 2 to 10 wt % Al, and between 0.5 and 5 wt % Si Other elements that may be present are Mn, Ca, Ti, Ni, and V. AH of these elements are normally reported as oxides iron is present as both Fe(II) andFe(III) (5,6). 

Tannin adhesives are the class of modified natural adhesives which are used and have been used industrially for more than 25 years, mainly in South Africa and Australia, but also in Zimbabwe, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and New Zealand. It is mainly the still limited raw material supply that limits their use to approximately 30,000 tons resin solids per year [16,17]. 

The Africa/Middle-East Working Group represents Crop Protection Industiy Associations in Cameroun, Cote d Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco and Syria. 

U.S. homes are powered entirely by PV. A large number of homes in Japan, where consumer electricity rates are three times higher than in the U.S., have roof-integrated PV systems. Half a million PV systems have been installed in developing countries by the World Bank. More than 10,000 have been installed in Sri Lanka, 60,000 in Indonesia, 150,000 in Kenya, 85,000 in Zimbabwe, 40,000 in Mexico, and... 

Deposits of niobium-tantalum ores are found in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Malaysia, Namibia, Nigeria, Russia, Rwanda, Spain, Thailand, Zaire, and Zimbabwe. A more detailed analysis of worldwide tantalum mineral raw material supply can be found in Linden s comprehensive overview [22,23]. 

Fig. 2.1 Map of Africa showing general locations of the Douala-Edea site in Cameroon and the Kibale Forest (Uganda). Abbreviations of countries referred to in other African examples Bots = Botswana, Cam=Cameroon, C.A.R. = Central African Republic, Gh = Ghana, Ken=Kenya, Mad=Madagascar, Moz=Mozambique, Tanz=Tanzania, Zam=Zambia, and Zim=Zimbabwe...

Natural zeolites may bear the name of the mineral (mordenite, faujasite, ferrier-ite, silicalite), or sometimes that of the discoverer, e.g. Barrerite after Professor Barrer, or the place where they were found, e.g. Bikitaite from Bikita, Zimbabwe. Synthetic zeolites are usually named after the industry or university where they were developed, e.g. VPI comes from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and ZSM stands for Zeolite Socony Mobil. 

Venezuela Cuba Tunisia Zimbabwe H Uganda ] Cyprus Estonia Netherlands Australia Malaysia... 

Zimbabwe (1994), Uganda (1995), Cyprus, the Netherlands, Venezuela (1996), Australia, Estonia, Malaysia, Tunisia (1997), Cuba (1998)... 

Many trade and professional groups exist in Uganda, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Consumer groups have also formed in these countries. However, their influence in relation to drug regulation functions is unclear. 

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