Last year, Côte d’Ivoire’s mining sector saw a rise in turnover by 11.5%, mainly due to a 146% increase in manganese output (at 510 000 tons). As reported by Reuters, gold (25.395 tons) and nickel (379 766 tons) also contributed to the sector’s success.
Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s top cocoa producer. However, the nation’s strategy to diversify its sources of revenue includes developing its mining industry. ‘The mining sector announced a sales revenue of 539 billion CFA francs [US$1.02 billion] in 2017, compared to 483 billion in 2016,’ according to government spokesman Bruno Nabagné Kone. This includes more than 11 000 carats of diamonds.
The country’s mining sector has much potential, says Kone, and it will soon ‘figure among the most important mineral producers on the continent’. He adds that, among other projects, Australia’s Perseus Mining is poised to open its Sissingué gold mine in the north of the country, while around 200 billion CFA francs will be invested in the Ity gold mine.
