A: does your country export a lot of natural resources?
B; we export some coal to European countries, but our biggest exports is copper1, which we export to Europe, north America, and china.
A: which resources do you have to import?
B: we import a little oil from Venezuela, but we are fairly self-sufficient. We import some iron and a lot of aluminium2 from neighouring countries.
A: I heard that you country recently discovered deposits of precious stone.
B: yes, that’s right. So far, only small deposits have been found. Engineers in my country are focusing on drilling for oil. The government is keen to exploit our natural resources to get money to import our country.
A: if your government invests in your country’s infrastructure3, it will be money well spent.
B: yes. We need to put the money into long-term projects rather than wasting it on short-term ones.
Intermediate
A: is there a lot of oil and coal in your country?
B: there is some, but my country is not amongst the leading producers. The oil and coal deposits are in the north of my country. Your country is a big oil producer, isn’t it?
A: yes, it is. My country is famous for having that natural resources. We also have a lot of natural gas.
B: we have some too. Do you have a lot of coal?
A; no coal has been discovered in my country, but there may be undiscovered deposits. We don’t have many metal deposits.
B: there are a few in my country. We have deposit of gold, but they are very small.
A: when I traveled around your country, I bought some jewellery made from gold form your country. The jewellery told me that there are few gold mines in your country. The gold was found in mountain steams.
B: that’s right. A few people go panning for gold in rivers.
A: you have many trees in your country. That’s another natural resources.
B: it’s a natural resources that we hardly use. Government policy is to conserve4 those forests.
A: I see. That’s probably a good idea. Too many forest are being destroyed.
B: is your country’s environment being damaged by the oil industry?
A; we have some inspections5, but it is very hard to avoid pollution when extracting oil. There has been some damage, but it is under control.
words
coal metal iron ore oil water precious metal diamond export import refine mine mining miner drill(ing) engineer supply infrastructure wood stone pure natural aluminium oil well
