Africa's Critical Minerals - A BUYER'S GUIDE to Lithium, Rare Earths, Tin, Tantalum and Graphite

Africa’s Critical Minerals: A Buyer’s Guide to Lithium, Rare Earths, Tin, Tantalum and Graphite

By Kolawole King, CEO of Augustina Impex Limited · 150 pages · A5 PDF · October 2026 edition

Africa supplies about 85% of the world’s tantalum and around 12–13% of its lithium, tin and graphite. It also hosts some of the most important rare-earth projects outside China. Yet many buyers lose money on African minerals. The minerals are real; the losses come from paying for the wrong grade, trusting a fake assay, signing a weak contract, or missing an export rule that changed while the cargo was on the road.

This guide is for the buyer, trader, processor or investor who wants to source these five minerals from Africa safely and profitably. It is written by a mineral exporter based in Jos, Nigeria, the historic centre of Nigeria’s tin, columbite and tantalite trade.

What you will learn

✅ What each mineral really is: spodumene, lepidolite, monazite, bastnäsite, cassiterite, coltan, tantalite and flake graphite, with the grades buyers actually pay for

✅ Who produces what in Africa: Zimbabwe, Mali, Nigeria, the DRC, Rwanda, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana and more

✅ How each mineral is priced: SC6 spodumene, NdPr oxide, LME tin, Ta₂O₅ per pound and flake graphite by carbon and mesh, with step-by-step pricing formulas

✅ The 2025–26 market shocks explained: Zimbabwe’s lithium export suspension, China’s export controls on rare earths and graphite, record tin prices and the tantalum price spike

✅ How to verify sellers and avoid the most common scams in African mineral trade

✅ Sampling, assaying, laboratories and umpire rules, including why a handheld XRF cannot measure lithium

✅ Contracts, Incoterms, letters of credit, escrow and provisional and final invoicing

✅ Logistics, export corridors and ports, plus the rules for shipping radioactive cargo such as monazite and some coltan

✅ Export laws in 14 African countries, conflict-minerals rules for tin and tantalum (3TG), OECD due diligence and the new battery regulations

✅ A full chapter on buying minerals from Nigeria, with the permits and documents a foreign buyer needs

Inside the book

📘 37 chapters in 8 parts, with one full part for each mineral

📊 20 charts and dozens of tables built from USGS 2026 data and current market reports

🧾 Five worked deals, one for each mineral, from specification to settlement

🗂️ Ready-to-use appendices:

• Conversion factors and pricing formulas
• Spec sheet templates
• A supplier due diligence checklist
• Sample contract wording
• Valuation worksheets
• 14 country fact sheets
• A glossary and buyers’ Q&A

Who this book is for

• Foreign buyers sourcing minerals from Africa
• Traders, processors and procurement managers
• Investors and market analysts
• African miners and exporters who want to sell at better prices

About the author

Kolawole King is the CEO of Augustina Impex Limited, a mineral sourcing and export company in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, and the founder of the Augustina Impex Mining Academy. His earlier books include From Pit to Port, Buying Minerals from Nigeria, Bastnäsite in Nigeria, Monazite Sand in Nigeria, Lithium Ore in Nigeria and Coltan in Africa.

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