(Ecofin Agency) - Senegal wants to join the top 7 largest gold exporters in Africa by 2035, the minister of mine and geology Aïssatou Sophie Gladima revealed.

Speaking during a validation workshop on the ministry’s annual joint review, she indicated that the country plans to increase its annual gold production from 7.25 tons in 2017, to 18 tons by 2023.

“In addition to Sabodala and Kharakhena mines, the Mako gold mining project which is estimated at 1.6 million ounces for an annual production of 140,000 ounces, has entered into commercial production test phase,” she explained as relayed by APA-Dakar.

Moreover, the country also wants to improve the iron, zircon and phosphate sectors, to become a “regional mining hub”.

Let’s recall that in 2017, Senegal produced 2.4 million tons of phosphate (the country’s main mining product), and wants to become the world's 4^th-largest zircon producer by 2023, with an annual output of 90,000 tons.

Louis-Nino Kansoun