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Ivory Coast To Boost Manganese Output To 1 Million Tones Within 3 Years
By Loucoumane Coulibaly
10/01/2014
LAUZOUA, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - Ivory Coast aims to quadruple its manganese production to around 1 million tonnes of ore within three years, boosted by new investments from the China National Geological and Mining Corporation (CGM), Ivorian state miner Sodemi said.
The West African nation, the world's top cocoa grower, is pushing to develop its long-neglected mining sector as part of efforts to diversify the economy as it recovers from a decade-long political crisis.
Having signed a partnership agreement with Sodemi in 2009, CGM has reopened the previously abandoned Lauzoua mine and in April last year extracted the first manganese, a metal used in the production of steel.
"The programme is to reach 300,000 tonnes per year over the next two years then increase to 500,000 tonnes," Kadjo Kouame, Sodemi's managing director, told Reuters.
"This will allow us to reach 1 million tonnes of manganese per year in total from all of Ivory Coast's sites, placing us on the list of major producers," he said, adding that the additional production would come from new mines expected to come online over the next three years.
Kouame said Sodemi and CGM had already invested 6 billion CFA francs in the Lauzoua mine, around 180 km west of the commercial capital Abidjan. Another 3 billion CFA francs are due to be invested this year to purchase new equipment to improve productivity.
Regional neighbours Gabon and Ghana are among the world's top manganese producing countries.
However Ivory Coast has for decades largely ignored its mining potential in favour of agricultural commodities, which also include coffee and rubber, that make up the bulk of export earnings.
The country's sole manganese mine currently in operation - the Bondoukou project owned by India's Dharni Sampda Private Limited - produced around 250,000 tonnes of ore in 2012.
The mine, near Ivory Coast's eastern border with Ghana, holds 3.2 million tonnes of proven reserves.
The company has completed exploration at a second project at Ziemougoula in the country's northwest showing 3.3 million tonnes of proven reserves with an additional 3 million tonnes of probable reserves. However, Dharni Sampda is still awaiting an exploitation permit for the property.
Global crude steel production hit a record 1.548 billion tonnes in 2012, according to data from the World Steel Association, fuelling demand for manganese.
China was the top consumer and producer of steel with output for the year at 716.5 million tonnes. Kouame said Asian, and particularly Chinese, steel mills would be the primary destination for Ivorian manganese.
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