Mozambique expects to set a new record for gold production in 2024, with more than 1.5 tons, which will represent an increase of 3% compared to estimates for this year, according to government projections announced on Thursday October 27.
“The gold production plan indicates growth of 3% compared to the projections for the year 2023”, reads the supporting documents for the proposed Economic and Social Plan and State Budget (PESOE) for 2024.
The document adds that this expected growth is the result of “greater control of artisanal mining”, but also due to the “positive performance of the country’s producing companies”.
“With a greater focus on the company Explorator, Lda., due to the fact that, on one of the exploration fronts, the company has Mutapa Mining Processing, Lda. On the other hand, we have the resumption of the activities of the company KD Prospero”, reads furthermore the document.
Next year, production is expected to reach 1,583 kilograms of gold, compared to 1,537 kilograms this year and 1,087 kilograms in 2022. According to government figures, in 2021 official gold production in Mozambique was 764.4 kilograms and in 2020 487.9 kilograms.
Overall, the Mozambican government expects the extractive industry sector to grow by 18.6% in 2024, “which includes an increase in the production of most minerals with great weight in the global structure, namely gold, heavy sands, graphite and thermal coal”. Gold production in Mozambique increased by 53% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2022, to 346.3 kilograms, according to official figures previously reported.