Artemis Gold’s Blackwater mine at final commissioning stage
Artemis now expects to feed first ore to the ball mill in the next few weeks and continues to target first gold pour before year end.
State revenue from gold mining companies in Mali surged 63.5% to 403.6 billion CFA ($702 million) in 2019 compared with 2018, boosted by a strong turnover from companies operating in the West African nation, the government said on Wednesday.
Mali’s mines ministry said the gold mining sector generated a turnover of 1.65 trillion CFA in 2019 compared with the previous year, up 19%, due the increase output and a rise in global gold prices.
Spot gold is currently trading at around $1,717 per ounce up from around $1,280 per ounce at the end of 2018.
Mali’s gold output rose to 71.1 tonnes in 2019 compared with 66.8 tonnes the previous year.
Industrial gold production is expected to fall by 8.3% year on year to 59.77 tonnes this year compared with 2019 due to falling output at several mines, the mines ministry said on June 3.
The ministry said in the statement on Wednesday that the 403.6 million revenue contribution included taxes, and other royalties. It represented around 25% of the Mali’s total fiscal resources in 2019, according to the finance ministry.
The mining sector accounted for around 9.7% of Mali’s gross domestic product in 2019, with gold as the country’s main export revenue earner, the finance ministry said.
Thirteen industrial gold mining firms operate in Mali including Barrick Gold Corp, Resolute Mining Ltd , B2GOLD, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, and Endeavour Mining Corp. The country also has some 350 artisanal gold mining sites.
($1 = 574.4800 CFA francs)
(By Tiemoko Diallo and Bate Felix; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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