*Government signs gold exploration deal with Russia/ EIU 03.08.15* Event
On July 28th the Ministry of Mining announced that it was in the process of granting a gold exploration concession to an as yet unnamed Russian company. Analysis Sudanese officials' claims regarding gold exploration and production prospects tend to run well ahead of the reality. On this occasion, for example, the mining ministry described the agreement with a Russian company as "unprecedented", even though in 2014 it reported that it had granted mining exploration licences to some nine Russian firms. Equally, none of the many mining exploration licences that the ministry has granted in recent years appear to have led to very promising results as yet. Despite this, the mining ministry is persevering in its efforts to expand gold mining. A Canadian company, Orca Gold, is currently exploring a block on the Egyptian border, which it acquired in 2011. Last year the ministry granted a gold exploration concession in North Kordofan to a French firm, Oramin. The ministry also revoked the licences of six companies which it said had breached safety and environmental standards, and appears to be making some progress on the task of regulating artisanal, or "traditional" gold mining. According to the mining minister, Ahmed al‑Karouri, the ministry has nearly finished preparing new legislation to regulate such mining, and recently contracted two German companies to help introduce alternatives to the use of mercury in artisanal mining. The interest for the ministry is in increasing how much the state earns from artisanal gold mining and exports. Mr Karouri has previously said that he believed artisanal gold mining accounts for 90% of Sudan's actual total gold production, but that much is smuggled out of the country. In early July Mr Karouri announced that gold production in the first half of this year had totalled 43 tonnes and that the government expected production to total 80 tonnes for the whole year, and rise to 100 tonnes in 2016. These figures must include the ministry's estimates for artisanal production, as officially recorded gold exports totalled only 30.4 tonnes in 2014 and 7.9 tonnes in the first quarter of 2015. Impact on the forecast We already forecast an expansion in the volume of mining-sector exports, particularly of gold. However, although gold export volumes will rise in 2016, the government's projections are likely to prove overoptimistic. -- To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/southsudankob View this message at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/southsudankob/topic-id/message-id For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14opeyU0gZ51VRsYc5LnrrbaZKmimH4FEfghPU1YRbeS_Qg%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
