Histoire de la mise en valeur miniere des Territoires d’Afrique Centrale [History of Mining Development in Central African Territories]

20th-century lessons in colonial exploitation.

According to its preface, this impetus for this volume originated in 1948, when the Mining Bureau of Overseas France was tasked with promoting the development of underground resources across the territories of France’s colonial empire. In order to accomplish this monumental undertaking, investigations were made into the flourishing mining industries of neighboring colonies under British, Belgian, and Portuguese control.

As a result, this detailed assessment of Central Africa’s mineral resource history was published in 1960 by the Bureau D’etudes Geologiques Et Minieres in Paris – in the midst of the decolonization of the continent and the same year the Central African Republic gained its independence. It includes an assessment of valuable deposits of gold and diamonds, a chronology of discoveries, and recommendations for successful mining operations in French colonies (which were rapidly dwindling).

The book includes a large fold-out map titled Carte de Localisation des Nomes Cites Dans: Histoire de la Mise en Vaaleur Miniere des Territoires d’Afrique Centrale, 1900 – 1957. It provides an overview of the political organization across Central Africa and locates railroads, rivers, and various cities referenced in the text. Inset maps show the border between Belgian Congo and Rhodesia, as well as the island of Madagascar.