[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey (OP)]

?

[Zer0]

Copper & Nickel mines?

[paul cotter]

That's like asking why there is so much oil in Saudi Arabia or why is the sun ~93million miles away. Science is about how things behave and the prediction of how they might behave if we alter conditions. Why things are the way they are is generally outside the scope of science though occasionally some "whys" can be answered.

[alancalverd]

I think geology and geochemistry class as sciences, and to a considerable extent the political boundaries we draw on maps and defend are determined by geology, so the real question is "why do we call the cobalt-rich bit of Africa, Congo?" To which the answer is that it was named by French colonists after the people who inhabited the area in the 16th century.

[paul cotter]

Alan, I could be wrong( won't be the first time! ) but I thought it was a Belgian colonial state?

[alancalverd]

I could also be wrong - European history never interested me - but AFAIK Belgium was part of France in the 16th century. Or was that last week? Either way, I can't imagine a civilisation that had already lasted over 1000 years being ready to accept Flemish as its official language without some protest.

[Bored chemist]

To which the answer is that it was named by French colonists after the people who inhabited the area in the 16th century.

It seems the name predates the French.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kongo

[diverjohn]

My first thoughts are either the cobalt is part of an iron meteorite (is there substantial nickel and iron associated with it?) or the orogeny of the African plate is in that same area and so some deep ore from the mantle may have been exposed.

[Petrochemicals]

Because there is lots in the ground.