Editing Mining (section)

===Africa===
[[Iron metallurgy in Africa]] dates back over four thousand years. Gold became an important commodity for Africa during the [[trans-Saharan gold trade]] from the 7th century to the 14th century. Gold was often traded to Mediterranean economies that demanded gold and could supply [[salt]], even though much of Africa was abundant with salt due to the mines and resources in the [[Sahara desert]]. The trading of gold for salt was mostly used to promote trade between the different economies.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gold/hd_gold.htm |title=The Trans-Saharan Gold Trade (7th–14th Century) |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum |date=October 2000 |access-date=7 July 2022 |archive-date=25 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625205507/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gold/hd_gold.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Since the [[Great Trek]] in the 19th century, after, gold and diamond mining in [[Mining industry of South Africa|Southern Africa]] has had major political and economic impacts. The [[Democratic Republic of Congo]] is the largest producer of diamonds in Africa, with an estimated 12 million carats in 2019. Other types of mining reserves in Africa include [[cobalt]], [[bauxite]], [[iron ore]], coal, and [[copper]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Published by M. Garside |url=https://www.statista.com/topics/7205/mining-industry-in-africa/#topicHeader__wrapper |title=Mining industry in Africa - statistics & facts |publisher=Statista |date=2021-10-20 |accessdate=2022-03-19}}</ref>