Mozambique expects to break a new gold production record in 2024, with more than 1.5 tonnes, which will represent a 3% increase compared to this year’s estimates, according to government projections which Lusa saw on Friday.
“The gold production plan indicates a growth of 3% compared to the projections for 2023,” said the documents supporting the proposal for the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget (PESOE) for 2024.
The document added that this expected growth is the result of “greater control of artisanal mining” and the “positive performance of production companies” in the country.
“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 the document.
Next year’s production is expected to be 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 totalled 764.4 kilograms and 487.9 kilograms in 2020.
Overall, the Mozambican government expects the extractive industry sector to grow by 18.6% in 2024, “which includes an increase in production of most minerals with great weight in the global structure, namely gold, heavy sands, graphite and coal”.
Gold production in Mozambique increased 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 by Lusa.
According to the economic and social balance of the implementation of the budget from January to March 2023, this production represents 26% of the total expected for this year and compares with 226 kilograms of gold produced in Mozambique in the first quarter of 2022.
