Gold firm sets the date for launch of smelting plant
Gold mining in Migori is increasingly becoming the livelihood of many people. But the entry of big time international investors will boost earnings. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI
London listed firm, Goldplat Plc, is set to begin exporting gold from western Kenya in July when it commissions a smelting plant that will process precious metals from Migori and Trans-Mara counties.
“The loaded carbon product is currently being stockpiled and an elution plant and smelter have been ordered and are due to be commissioned in July 2011,” Goldplat CEO Demetri Manolis said. Goldplat Plc is one of the two companies prospecting for commercially viable deposits of gold around the Migori Archaean Greenstone Belt, where the Lolgorien licence area is located.
Surveys by both the government and private companies have revealed large amounts of gold deposits around Migori and Kakamega in western Kenya, raising the country’s potential of earning billions of Shillings from the mineral whose price in the global markets has once again hit record highs as investors seek refuge in commodities from turbulent currency markets.
“Recent developments at our Kilimapesa gold mine in Kenya are highly encouraging. Initial plant operations are now under way at the mine, and it is our intention to start a defined exploration programme,” Mr Manolis further said.
The location is a northern continuation of the Lake Victoria goldfields which host major gold deposits including Barrick multi-million ounce North Mara mine, which lies approximately 40 km to the southwest of Lolgorien.
Market data by Monday showed that spot gold hit a record high of $1,517.71 an ounce, before easing to $1,515.65, up 0.8 per cent.
US gold futures also rose to an all-time high, at $1,518.60.
“It’s the dollar play,” Reuters quoted a Singapore-based dealer as having said.
The latest sharp rise in prices of gold and other metals such as silver follows the weakening of the dollar.
Investors in the local gold prospecting industry could benefit from the price boom.
Estimates from Mines and Geology department indicate that Migori’s gold capacity alone stands at 34 tonnes that could earn the country close to Sh67 billion a year.
Earnings from the mineral—currently exploited by small-scale artisans—however stood at Sh2.3 billion last year, mainly since the small prospectors lack equipment to harvest the mineral on an industrial scale.
Gold prices have spurred activities by prospectors with more than 10 international mining firms active in western Kenya, which mining experts say might experience a gold rush in the next 10 years.
The firms include Aviva Corporation of Australia, Afri Ore Ltd, East Africa Pure Gold Ltd, Covenant Mining Ltd, Karebe Gold Mining Ltd, Gold Rim Exploitation (K) Ltd and Abba Mining Company.
