9/11/08

Gold investment could be boosted by criminal activities at mine in Tanzania - Thursday 11th September 2008

The executive general manager of Barrick Gold Tanzania has explained that criminal acts are affecting its North Mara mining operations in Tarime District.

Speaking at a two-day seminar in Musoma which featured the mine's latest report, Deo Mwanyika claimed that the project is being compromised by the effects of such activities.

He said: "We spend a lot of time and resources to deal with crimes instead of funding development projects.

"This also reduces the cake that could have gone into enhancing the livelihood of the North Mara community in general."

Mr. Mwanyika explained that intruders are invading the mine to steal gold sand and fuel, while illegal crushers are a regular problem and school children are often seen trespassing in the mining area.

One such example is villagers attacking a truck transporting gold stones to the processing plant, with their subsequent theft causing the mine a loss of $900,000.

In addition, two workers have been killed and several more have been injured in recent days, while 40 boreholes drilled with the support of the mine have also been vandalized.

The news could potentially be a boost for anyone investing in gold, as if the criminal threats fail to be addressed the mine could be forced to be closed - thus reducing supply for gold buying.

At the very least, production is undoubtedly being affected and the amount of money Barrick is devoting to tackling the situation could have a knock-on effect for other projects.

AngloGold Ashanti, the world's third largest gold producer, recently admitted that output in Tanzania could drop by ten per cent on the year after disruptions at its largest underground mine, Geita.




--
Jean-Louis Kayitenkore
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: +250-08470205
Home: +250-55104140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali-Rwanda
East Africa
Blog: http://www.cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID : Kayisa66

No comments:

Post a Comment