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Mali Dislodges Tanzania As No 3 Gold Producer In Africa
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By Ray Naluyaga
Mali has dislodged Tanzania as the third largest gold producer in Africa, according to The Economist magazine.
South Africa is still by far the largest gold producer, having
taken out of the ground a whopping 240 tonnes of the precious metal
last year.
It is followed by Ghana (80 tonnes), Mali (60 tonnes) and Tanzania
(50 tonnes). Tanzania dropped to fourth despite gold production in the
country having risen from 39.8 tonnes in 2008, an increase of over ten
tonnes.
Burkina Faso occupies the fifth slot, having doubled gold production to 40 tonnes in 2009.
According to GFMS, an independent London-based consultancy
specialising in research on precious metals, global gold production at
mines grew by six per cent in 2009, a six-year high.
It says South Africa, which for many years was the world�s largest gold producer, is now third behind China and Australia.
"South Africa, once the largest producer in the world, saw its
production levels fall by five per cent and consequently (the country
dropped) to third place behind China and Australia in the table of gold
producing countries," says GFMS.
The consultancy forecasts that mining output will grow again in
this year as new mines increase production to fill the gap caused by
declines in more mature producers like South Africa and the US. It
says, however, that production will still be short of levels reached in
the early years of last decade.
Despite the decline in South Africa, overall output in Africa has
grown by four per cent. "Four of the world�s top ten global output
increases came from Africa, led by a doubling in output in Burkina
Faso,"says GFMS.
Internationally, the fastest growing output figures were posted by
Indonesia, Tanzania and China, while world output was 2,553 tonnes in
2009 compared to 2,409 in 2008.
The increase of six per cent in mine production in 2009 was far
outstripped by a 26.6 per cent increase in the supply of old gold
scrap, which rose to a record high of 1,541 tonnes.
Record gold prices and the economic crisis were the chief drivers for the sharp increase, according to GFMS.
The Economist says the top 15 gold producers are China, Australia,
South Africa, United States, Russia, Peru Indonesia, Canada, Ghana,
Uzbekistan, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Mexico, Mali and Argentina.
Meanwhile, a prominent tanzanite dealer has asked the government to establish an independent tanzanite certifier.
Mr Innocent Maranu said it was not right for the government to
compel small-scale tanzanite miners and traders to send their gemstones
to a private firm, which was also involved in the tanzanite trade.
"We have to establish an independent institution to do the job. I
think is wrong to force tanzanite traders to send their gemstones to a
private company, which is also involved in the mining of tanzanite.
If the establishment of an independent institution is not feasible
at this time, the verification and certification should be done by the
Energy and Minerals ministry," he told the Voice of America.
He said Tanzania also lost hundreds of millions of shillings in revenue by having tanzanite cut and polished abroad.
"If the gemstones were cut and polished here, the government could
make a lot of money in addition to creating jobs for Tanzanians."
Source: The Citizen
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Tags:Mali dislodges Tanzania as No 3 gold producer, Mali Dislodges Tanzania As No 3 Gold Producer In Africa
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