Today, Georgia's mineral industry produces manganese, copper and various types of quarried stone.
[4] During the Soviet period, a range of minerals were mined in Georgia, which included arsenic, barite, bentonite, coal, copper, diatomite, lead, manganese, zeolite, and zinc, among others.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the level of mineral production in Georgia declined sharply.
Three of the new large oil and gas export pipelines that had been or were being constructed in the Caspian region pass through Georgia.
The country also has resources of arsenic, barite, copper, diatomite, dimension stone, marble, and lead-zinc, as well as raw materials for producing cement.
[5] Georgia's major revenues from minerals are expected to derive from its role as a transport route for the Caspian Sea hydrocarbons.
Oilfield and gasfield development could take place off the Black Sea shelf as a number of major international companies are assessing the region's production potential.
Both had previously lacked investment resources to introduce modern technology that would enable them to produce near their potential.
In 2005, however, a joint venture of Austrian, Georgian, and Russian bidders reportedly won the privatization tender for the manganese mining enterprise for $132 million, and Stanton Equities Corporation reportedly won a privatization bid for a gold mine at Madneuli.