Sudan asks gold companies to speed up production
June 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Higher Council for Mining on Monday urged gold companies to remove difficulties and start the production stage as soon as possible.
Revenues from gold will fill the gap of oil loss after South Sudan’s secession in 2011.
The meeting of the Sudanese Higher Council for Mining, which is considered as the first, was chaired over by President Omer al-Bashir, in the presence of a number of ministers and state governors.
Speaking to journalists, the Sudanese Minister of Minerals, Mohamed Sadiq al-Karouri, said the meeting further recommended that gold companies shall work to facilitate all difficulties and speed up reaching production phase as soon as possible.
The meeting has also recommended paying attention to the other minerals such as iron and chrome, especially with regard to production and exportation, said al-Karouri.
Al-Korari stated that the meeting gave directives to the central bank to buy the gold production at remunerative prices to reduce smuggling of precious minerals, pointing out that 22.3 tons of gold was produced in all sectors of mining in the first quarter of this year.
He affirmed that his ministry will work in collaboration with the ministry of finance and the central bank to have the gold in the economic cycle.
The minister revealed that the meeting listened to two reports; the first one tackling the process of legalising the traditional mining.
In this respect, al-Korari revealed that they managed to legalize this sector by 85%, with the help of the relevant parties.
The second report was about the establishment of the new supervisory apparatus represented in the Sudanese company for minerals that tasked with monitoring all four production sectors that include companies of concession, small mining, mining service and tradition mining, he stated.
He also said that this apparatus will carry out the administrative, technical, environmental, social and financial supervisions.
He added that the apparatus managed to impose special supervision particularly in the financial sector a matter that helped collection all revenues from mining companies by 95% of the required production in accordance with the signed contracts, besides the start of collection from the traditional mining.
(ST)