Mining Industry Of Botswana
The mineral industry of Botswana has dominated the national economy since the early 1990s. Diamond has been the leading component of the mineral sector since large-scale diamond production began 25 years ago. Most of Botswana’s diamond production was of gem quality, which resulted in the country’s position as the world’s leading producer of diamond by value. Copper, gold, nickel, and soda ash production also has held traditionally significant, though smaller, roles in the national economy. In 2005, mining accounted for about 38% of Botswana’s real gross domestic product (GDP), and more than 50% of Government revenues were derived from mining and mineral-processing activity. In 2005, the nominal value of minerals produced in Botswana exceeded that of 2004 by about 20% in terms of the United States (U.S.) dollar. Much of the increase was attributed to higher international mineral prices. Diamond, copper-nickel matte, and gold, in order of value, accounted for most of the increase.
Famous quotes containing the words mining and/or industry:
“For every nineteenth-century middle-class family that protected its wife and child within the family circle, there was an Irish or a German girl scrubbing floors in that home, a Welsh boy mining coal to keep the home-baked goodies warm, a black girl doing the family laundry, a black mother and child picking cotton to be made into clothes for the family, and a Jewish or an Italian daughter in a sweatshop making “ladies” dresses or artificial flowers for the family to purchase.”
—Stephanie Coontz (20th century)
“Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)