This revelation was part of the president’s New Year message to the nation.
“Mining must always reconcile the legitimate concern of return on investment and the requirement to contribute to the fight against poverty so that local people benefit from the positive extraction of wealth from their land,” he said, while stressing that the mining sector was close to his heart.
Mineral resource mining, especially gold, has over the years intensified in Senegal. La Source, Randgold Resources (Senegal) Ltd and Societé Miniere de Sabodala – are among major companies involved in gold mining in the country. The Sabodala gold project, commissioned in 2009, is located on the Birimian gold belt, which links Mali and Senegal, and is described as one of the largest gold belts in the world. Experts believe this gold belt is largely unexplored as of now.
According to President Wade, the Sabodala project produced 162 529 oz in 2009. He added that an ongoing expansion project is expected to raise production there to 220 000 oz per annum.
The two new sites reffered to on Friday are also located on the Birimian gold belt. Randgold, in 2008, announced the discovery of gold in the town of Massawa with a potential two to three times larger than in Sabodala. The existence of this reserve was certified in 2010, according to Wade. The president said a another company, Oromin Explorations Ltd., showed an overall potential of more than 100 tonnes of gold in Golouma, Niakifiri and Mamakono.
Mr Wade had promising words for the populations adjacent to mining sites concerned, citing, among others, granting of scholarships to top graduates from Kedougou and Tambacounda.
Source: allwestafrica.com