Zambia has been mapped and prospected for minerals in a systematic manner since the beginning of the last century.   Much of the early work was entirely carried out by individuals and companies mainly for copper and readily mine able deposits such as gold. The geological map of Zambia which was first published in 1974 provides a synoptic distribution of rock types and geology. With the establishment of the Geological Survey in 1951, work widened and included systematic airborne geophysical surveys mostly done by international contractors for the government. They included Canadian Aero Service (1968), Geoterrex International (1969), Spartan (1972), Geometrics (1972-1977), Scintrex Airborne Geophysics (1969) and Edcon (1985); therefore a good regional geophysical database should be available at Geological Survey.  Geochemical exploration as a technique was also done in Zambia.

The major possible sources of fossil energy in Zambia include coal, hydrocarbon, uranium and geothermal.  All of these have been explored for using geological and geophysical techniques. Of the minerals, coal is currently mined and the resource potential of this material is substantial and present requirements can be met from the operating mine at Maamba. It would seem that there is good prospect for methane gas and this is an area that needs to be explored. The potential for uranium is considered good and it is a mineral that should be sourced and exported as a commodity in the form of yellow cake. The scope for power generation through geothermal water is very modest and is considered expensive and therefore unattractive.  However, this potential should be inventoried for future use.  The probability for hydrocarbon is considered good and the indications available suggest that a serious programme should be mounted and fresh search initiated. An outline historical review of the exploration for these minerals is as follows.

Coal Exploration
David Livingstone made the first record of occurrence of coal in Zambia as early as 1865. However, systematic prospecting did not begin until some sixty years back, subsequent to the setting-up of the Geological Survey Department. Nevertheless, individual prospectors and companies had carried out work. Concurrently with the Geological Survey Department’s work undertaken by Gair and Tavener-Smith, Anglo American represented by Chartered Exploration carried out a detailed assessment of the coal potential in 1965 and their findings are summarised by Cornwall.  Although much of the work was in the Mid-Zambezi Valley some exploration in the Kafue Basin was also undertaken.  A seam of coal up to 10 metres thick near the base of the Karoo succession is preserved in several partly fault-bounded basins in the Mid-Zambezi. A detailed diamond-drilling programme together with three shafts enabled the Geological survey to give an assessment of the reserves and grade of the coal in a number of the basins.  The seam is not of uniform thickness and in many places two separate seams (Seam ‘A’ and Seam ‘B’) have been recognised.

Maamba Coalfield (Siankondobo)
Currently Zambia’s coal supplies come from Maamba mine, situated in the Gwembe Valley of the Southern Province some 70 km south of Choma and about 10 km north of Lake Kariba. Coal was first produced in Zambia in 1966 from the open cast mine at Nkandabwe and in the following year coal from the present Maamba mine was dispatched to the market, and since that time, Maamba has been supplying washed coal to the Zambian industry.

Coal usage in Zambia has mainly been limited in its washed form and the major consumers are the Mining Industry, Nitrogen Chemical of Zambia, the Chilanga Cement Industries, Premium Oil, the breweries, laundries, the agricultural and the manufacturing sectors. 

Mulungwa Coalfield
The first investigations of the Mulungwa area was made by Travener-Smith (1960), who described the coal seam as 4.3 m thick, with two thin intercalations of mudstones near the top.

The data available from the investigations are insufficient for a detailed calculation of reserves to be made, but a provisional estimate is 10 million tonnes to a depth of 100 metres. Although the thickness and the grade of the Main Seam at Mulungwa, are both well above the average for the known coal occurrences in the Mid-Zambezi Valley, the high dip, and the fact that the Mulungwa River flows along the sub-outcrop are considered unfavourable for open-cast exploitation.

In addition to the above, there are also occurrences such as the Maze-Sinakumbe Coalfield, Nsanje, Siamambo and many others.

Methane Gas
No systematic exploration for methane gas, generally known as coal bed methane (CBM) has been done; however, recently companies have expressed an interest in search for it.  Methane gas has been discovered in neighbouring countries (Mozambique and Tanzania) and the geological environment of Zambia offers potential for this. Furthermore, there are reports of gas emissions in the coal exploratory wells in the Maamba area, that needs to be further investigated. 

Hydrocarbon Exploration
Zambia imports all her petroleum products.  Until the early 1970’s Zambia had never been explored for hydrocarbons. 

Geological Survey Department initiated a countrywide appraisal of the country’s sedimentary basins with a view of assessing their potential for oil and gas.  The work comprised quick reconnaissance geological mapping of the hitherto unmapped western Zambia in conjunction with ten widely spaced boreholes of over 3000 metres for basic stratigraphic information, dispersed throughout the region.  A countrywide airborne magnetic survey and a car-borne gravity survey along the major artery roads were done by Geological Survey and an analysis of landsat data (satellite imagery) was created.  The purpose was to give an overview of the basins, their configuration, sediment thickness, rock types, structural anomalies etc. with a view to establishing rock types and structural features favourable for hosting hydrocarbons. 

An interest in Zambia’s hydrocarbon potential started after the presentation of the paper on oil exploration at the United Nations Conference held in The Hague in the Netherlands, highlighting the buried rifts as well as marine units in the western basin called the Barotse Basin.  This paper by Money (1981) attracted much interest and resulted in the World Bank sending a team of experts to review the preliminary data and make recommendations.  This led to the signing of an Agreement establishing the Petroleum Exploration Promotion Project in the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development with a loan from the Bank amounting US$6.6 million.  Edcon, a Denver based consultants was engaged to supervise the reprocessing and interpretation of 90,000 line-kilometres of aeromagnetic data previously acquired for the Geological Survey by Geometrics of California, USA.