Madagascar, the world's forth largest island, is located in the south western Indian Ocean, approximately 500km off the coast of southern Africa. The country is 1500km long by 500km wide and covers an area of approximately 590,000 sq km.

Madagascar has an estimated population of 19.5 million people, most of who are employed in the agricultural sector, the mainstay of its economy.  Madagascar has only relatively recently embraced free market democracy and has been actively encouraging foreign investment over the last 10 to 15 years. 

The country has a long history of small scale mining.  Considerable amounts of gold and semi precious stones are produced annually. Modern mining and exploration activities are very much in their infancy thus Madagascar has great potential for the discovery of new mines, in particular nickel, cobalt, heavy mineral sands, chromite and coal.