Geology of South Sudan

The region was affected by the Pan-African orogeny in the Neoproterozoic and extensional tectonics in the Mesozoic that deposited very thick oil-bearing sedimentary sequences in rift basins.

Sedimentary aquifers with intergranular flow are found in the northwest, abutting a large area spanning most of the north and center of the country with unconsolidated alluvial sediments.

Copper and gold ore, associated with radioactive minerals, occurs at Hofrat Ennahas in Western Bahr El Ghazal state, and has been explored by major companies such as Billington.

Often, a 10 to 30 meter thick section of iron ore overlies bauxite, particularly west of Wau and close to the border of Central African Republic and Sudan.

[4] Prior to South Sudanese independence in 2011, Chevron Overseas Petroleum launched a major survey of unstudied rift basins in the interior of Sudan in 1975.