Paper Number: 1484
Indigenous Knowledge of
Exploration Geology: A Malawian Perspective
Chisenga, C.1, and Kamanga, T.2,
1Malawi University of Science and Technology, P.O.Box 5196 limbe, Malawi, cchisenga@must.ac.mw
2 Geological Survey Department, P.O. box 27, Zomba, Malawi tamarakamanga@gmail.com
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Malawi has been known to be an agricultural country with historically very few mining activities taking place, mostly small to medium scale. The government then encouraged citizens to engage themselves into farming and not mining. It was not until 2009 that Malawi opened its first large mining project, the Kayerekera Uranium Mine in Northern Malawi. Geological knowledge was not available to the locals and the country had very few geologists and mining experts.
In this study, we looked at the development of exploration methods for minerals in Malawi without understanding the geology. We concentrated on the small scale mining activities for gemstones and limestone, quarrying of rocks for building which has strength factors suitable for most conditions and environment. We also looked at the exploration of graphite in central Malawi. Graphite is used as a plaster for building in central Malawi especially in the rural areas. The houses are beautiful gray in colour. The use of soil properties and type of vegetation as indicators for graphite occurrences has been used without understanding the geology and has been passed from generation to generation.
The indigenous knowledge of the early people of Malawi in understanding mineral occurrences is impressive and if developed further and fused with knowledge of geology it can produce an effective way of mineral exploration.