Mali bans infringing outfits from gold mining
Source: APA
Mali bans infringing outfits from gold mining
Of 222 valid search permits, the government has cancelled some 71 it had granted companies that have broken the terms of contract, the source added.
About 40 other permits are set for signature, the government said, adding that only six mining companies are currently active.
Gold, which has superseded crisis-stricken cotton to become Mali’s leading export in the last five years, is also facing a production slump.
The country is targeting a 46.013-tonne output in 2008 after producing 52.753 tonnes in 2007 and a record-high 58.382 tonnes two years earlier.
In 2006, the precious metal earned the country 116 billion CFA francs, the authorities recalled.
Mali is Africa’s third leading gold producer after world giants South Africa and Ghana.
Yet the enviable position has not in the least improved the lives of the Malians, the civil society recently denounced as they demanded greater “transparency” in managing gold-earned resources.
