The gold and base-metal potential of the Pan-African orogens is reviewed. Explorationists in these terranes face two scenarios: ground that has already been explored but merits re-evaluation in the light of new techniques or data, such as the Central African Copperbelt and the Damara Belt, and ground that has been subject to little previous exploration, such as the Mozambique Belt and Hoggar. It is predicted that genetic modelling, based on the source-migration-trap paradigm used in petroleum exploration and following a progression from geodynamic domain scale through terranes and mineral play types to prospect scale, will play an important part in future exploration in Africa. The greatest immediate potential of this methodology is seen to lie in its application to the Copperbelt, the Damaran Mobile Belt, the West Congolian Belt and, possibly, the exposed parts of the North African Altaid-style orogen from Hoggar to the Red Sea.
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