The refinery is expected to boost State income and mitigate the economic crisis.
Sudan’s President, Omar Al-Bashir on Wednesday September 19 inaugurated his country’s first gold refinery as part of efforts to improve the quality of gold exports and make up for the loss of three quarters oil revenues after the independence of South Sudan in 2011.
The Sudan Gold Refinery, located in Al-Hila Al-Jadida area north of the capital Khartoum, will have a daily production capacity of 900 kg of gold and 200 kg of silver, the Sudan Tribune newspaper quoted its Director, Mohammed Osman Al-Zubair, as saying. It also aims to reduce the amounts of smuggled gold by giving local producers value for their products.
Speaking at the event, Central Bank Governor, Mohammed Kheir Al-Zuabir, said Sudan made 2.6 billion US dollars (about FCFA 1,316 billion) from selling 58 tonnes of gold over the past 16 months. According to the Reuters news agency, Sudan hopes to sell gold worth Three billion US dollars (about FCFA 1,519 billion) this year. Last month, the Finance Ministry said the export of gold ore from Sudan would be banned once the refinery opened.
The refinery is the first project of its kind in Sudan and the second in Africa for producing and extracting gold and silver with high quality and purity, Xinhua news agency quoted Mohammed Osman Al-Zubair, as saying at the inauguration. Another refinery official, Azhari Altayeb, said the plant would also process gold from countries in the region such as Egypt, Eritrea, Chad and the Central African Republic, the Sudanese Media Centre’s website reported.
A recent survey by the Arab League’s Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization, AIDMO, shows that Sudan has great mining potentials. The country expects gold to make up for the loss of three quarters of its oil production after South Sudan’s independence in 2011. The loss of oil revenues created a budget deficit of 2.4 billion US dollars (about FCFA 1,215 billion). Sudanese officials say the gold refinery is part of a tripartite programme the State has devised to counter the economic crisis.
Few days ago, Sudan’s official news agency, SUNA, reported that the government had issued more than 500 licenses to produce gold in Blue Nile State. It quoted the Minister of Mining, Kamal Abdel Latif, as saying that the licenses had been awarded to companies from more than 55 countries.
