{"id":682962,"date":"2018-05-09T23:23:50","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T23:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=682962"},"modified":"2018-05-09T23:23:50","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T23:23:50","slug":"africas-third-largest-source-for-gold-exploration-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=682962","title":{"rendered":"Africa\u2019s Third Largest Source for Gold Exploration"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The West-African nation of Mali is as mineral-rich as it is unexplored, with a wealth of gold resources beneath its surface only just being discovered. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The third-largest gold producer<\/a> in Africa, Mali has seven projects currently in operation, and there is plenty of room for growth as only six of the country’s 133 potentially gold-rich regions have been mapped out to date.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the World Bank described<\/a> Mali’s economic performance as being \u201cstrong, with robust growth and, more recently, [showing] an apparent drop in poverty rates overall.\u201d Crediting the agriculture and services sectors, Mali experienced an estimated growth rate of nearly six percent in 2016. Growth is expected to stay at a robust five percent over the medium term, with added support from the resource sector.<\/p>\n

Transforming Mali into a premier destination for foreign investment has been a top priority for legislators. In an interview with Mining Technology, Bady Bald\u00e9, the regional director for Francophone Africa at EITI, called Mali’s emphasis on attracting foreign investment a strong foundation on which to build on. He emphasized that the world had taken<\/a> notice of Mali’s commitment towards transparency and its favorability toward mining companies.<\/p>\n

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This INNspired Article is brought to you by:<\/p>\n

Desert Gold Ventures Inc.<\/a> (TSXV:DAU, OTC:DAUGF, FKFT:QXR2.F) is a gold exploration company focused on developing its high-grade gold properties along or near the Senegal Mali Fault Zone (SMFZ) in Western Mali. Known for having an extensive history of gold mining, Mali is the third largest gold producer in Africa and is also renowned for its low cost of mining.<\/p>\n

Send me an Investor Kit<\/a><\/div>\n

Mining in Mali: A brief history<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Gold’s importance to Mali has always been paramount. In the 8th century, both the nation’s gold and salt mines were highly sought-after<\/a> by Europeans and the Arab world. Rudimentary extraction of the region’s gold stores also gave rise<\/a> to the Mali Empire between 1230 and 1600, although these were depleted before Mali was subjected to colonial rule in the 19th century.<\/p>\n

Now, as exploration companies return to the region, BMI Research has reported<\/a> that Mali is set to experience some of the fastest mining industry value growth rates within Sub-Saharan Africa. This is as a result of its large, untapped resources, sizable investment and a climate which is increasingly business-friendly.<\/p>\n

A mining-friendly state<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Canadian Global Affairs Institute wrote<\/a> in 2013 that Mali’s attractive mining codes, low royalty rates and tax holidays were constructed to \u201cstimulate investment\u201d in mining across Africa in the early 1990s, while western nations Mali and Burkina Faso, along with Tanzania in the east, led the charge in courting foreign investment for its resource sector.<\/p>\n

A rework of the country’s mining code aimed at reducing extensive regulation is expected<\/a> in 2018. Although details about the exact nature of the revisions remain unclear, Mali’s Economic Minister, Boubou Cisse said in early 2018 that his government would act unilaterally to enact revisions if a bipartisan agreement could not be reached.<\/p>\n

New mining permits have been made available in recent years through an effort to subvert<\/a> illegal mining in-country. As part of its work to attract foreign investors, Mali’s government has recently cancelled approximately 30 percent of existing mining permits, freeing these up for new and above-board investors, domestic and foreign, to pursue mining operations.<\/p>\n

Available resources<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The nation’s resource industry is an area of significant economic activity. Total gold production<\/a> in Mali totaled 46.9 tonnes in 2016 with additional production estimates<\/a> for 2017 ranging as high as 95 tonnes. Additionally, estimated<\/a> reserves from the Ministry of Mines for 2017 sat at 822 tonnes of gold.<\/p>\n

Mali’s wealth of resources extend<\/a> beyond gold, however. Found in the same region which contained enough gold to fuel the rise of the Mali Empire, Mali’s south-west contains an estimated<\/a> 122 million tons of lime. In addition, there are also iron deposits in the west near the country’s borders with Senegal and Guinea, lithium near the region of Kayes and manganese around the town of Ansongo, highlighting the diversity of Mali’s resources.<\/p>\n

Potential in the SMFZ<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Located in western Mali, the Senegal Mali Fault Zone (SMFZ) is a structural event known<\/a> for its rich history of gold exploration and production and hosts some of the biggest gold mines in the world. \u201cPart of the reason that the SMFZ is such a prolific producer because it is a larger structure than most,\u201d said Desert Gold<\/a> (TSXV:DAU<\/a>, OTC:DAUGF, FKFT:QXR2.F) President Jared Scharf, adding that the structure’s lineage can most likely be traced back to the same time most of the gold belts in west Africa were formed.<\/p>\n

The SMFZ has helped catapult<\/a> Mali into becoming the third largest gold producer in Africa, with approximate total revenue from the region amounting to US$1.2 billion in 2015. Within the SMFZ, the Sadiola and Loulo gold districts \u201ccontain some of the largest gold endowments in west Africa outside of the Ashanti belt in Ghana,\u201d according to a 2017 paper by Lebrun et al.<\/p>\n

The SMFZ hosts a number of substantial gold discoveries. Comprised of two seperate mining permits, Randgold Resources’ (NASDAQ:GOLD<\/a>, LSE:RRS) Loulo-Gounkoto complex borders Senegal and was reported to hold total<\/a> gold reserves of 8.2 million ounces gold in 2017. 500 kilometers northwest of Mali’s capital, Bamako, the Loulo-Gounkoto complex increased its annual production rate by 3 percent over the previous year, having produced 730,372 ounces of gold in 2017. Randgold Resources attributes the increase to improved processing and recovery methods.<\/p>\n

Located 140 kilometers to the south are Endeavour Mining’s (TSX:EDV<\/a>) Tabakoto and Segala mines. Once Endeavour Mining acquired the Tabakoto mine in 2012, the Segala open pit mine was converted into an underground operation. Both mines collectively produced<\/a> nearly 144,000 ounces of gold in 2017. They also have proven and probable reserves of 1.2 million ounces of gold and inferred resources of 810,000 ounces gold.<\/p>\n

Further emphasizing the SMFZ’s exploration potential, IAMGOLD’s (TSX:IMG) and AngloGold Ashanti’s (NYSE:AU<\/a>) Sadiola and Yatela Mines have reported reserves of 8.1 million and 3.5 million …read more<\/a> <\/p>\n

From:: Investing News Network<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The West-African nation of Mali is as mineral-rich as it is unexplored, with a wealth of gold resources beneath its surface only just being discovered. The third-largest gold producer in Africa, Mali has seven projects currently in operation, and there is plenty of room for growth as only six of the country’s 133 potentially gold-rich […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[359],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682962"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=682962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=682962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=682962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=682962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}