(a) On an outline map of West Africa, show: (i) one area each in a different country, important for diamond, petroleum and gold (ii) one important town in e...

(a) Outline map of West Africa: minerals, towns and routes

• Diamond: mark the Sierra Leone field (town: Kono/Koidu), with a route to the port of Freetown for export.
• Petroleum: mark the Niger Delta, Nigeria (town: Port Harcourt/Warri), with a pipeline/route to the oil terminals at Bonny/Forcados for export.
• Gold: mark Ghana (town: Obuasi/Tarkwa), with a rail route to the port of Takoradi for export.

(b) One method of mining a named mineral

Petroleum (drilling): after geological and seismic survey locates an oil-bearing structure, a derrick and rotary drill bore a well down through the rock to the oil reservoir. The oil rises up the well under natural pressure (or is pumped) to the surface, is separated from gas and water, and is piped to storage tanks and refineries or export terminals.

(For gold by deep/shaft mining: vertical shafts and horizontal tunnels are sunk to reach the gold-bearing reef, the ore is blasted, brought to the surface, crushed and the gold extracted chemically. For diamond by alluvial mining: gravel is dug from river beds and washed/sieved to recover the stones.)

(c) Four problems associated with mining in West Africa

• Shortage of capital and modern machinery, so mining is often small-scale and inefficient.
• Shortage of skilled/technical manpower, forcing reliance on foreign experts.
• Poor transport and infrastructure from mine to port, and irregular power supply.
• Environmental damage and hazards (land degradation, pollution, mine collapse), plus dependence on unstable world prices and smuggling.