Magnetite

specimen number:
2282067

location:
Bangui, Central African Republic

description:
A loose sharp octahedral crystal of magnetite. In great condition all around.

The Bangui region, centered around the capital city on the northern bank of the Ubangi River in the Central African Republic, is geologically positioned over the northern margin of the ancient Precambrian Congo Craton. The local bedrock consists of deep-seated metamorphic and plutonic complexes, including gneisses, granodiorites, and gabbros underlain by the massive Precambrian Bangui magnetic anomaly, while the surface is dominated by thick Quaternary alluvial floodplains and intensely weathered soils. Unlike the distant interior prefectures of the country that host major alluvial diamond and gold fields, extraction activities within the immediate Bangui municipal area are dominated by artisanal and industrial quarrying of river sand, gravel, brick clay, and high-quality crystalline rock aggregates used for regional infrastructure. Organized quarrying and structural stone extraction in the area expanded following the establishment of the French colonial outpost in 1889, growing steadily through the mid-twentieth century and continuing to the present day to support the construction and expansion of the urban center.

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