Government assures of no Revenue Loss on Extracting Gold Bars Abroad

Key:

•  Gold bars to be produced abroad
• Nothing will be lost, nation assured of economic benefits   
• Surrounding communities assured of environmental safety

The government assures the country and Gold Ridge Resource owners that there will be no loss of revenue in its plan to extract gold overseas.

The government made the assurance to clarify concerns raised on extracting gold overseas rather than producing them locally.

Director of Mines, Nicholas Biliki confirms, the government has established mechanisms that will ensure gold products are properly recorded and tracked.

Mr. Biliki explains it would be too expensive to produce gold bars locally. 

“Previously, gold bars were produced locally, but by the look at the current operations, the ore is of lower grade, and if we were to produce gold bars, the project will be marginal, meaning we won’t be able to generate revenue. It’s a costly exercise. 

“The only way for the project to raise revenue is to export the concentrates and gold bars produced aboard.”

This does not mean we are going to lose money, there are systems in place to record and keep track of the exported minerals. There are standard practices in place and the country will lose nothing,” Mr. Biliki says.

Earlier, the public raised concerns over the export of concentrates rather than the production of gold bars locally.

But the government further assures Gold Ridge downstream communities that their safety will be prioritized in any mining operation.

Director Biliki says the processing facility is designed to protect the environment from any unwanted substance.

“We have approved the proposal from the company.  Surrounding communities are rest assured that the heap leaching and flotation techniques are up to standard and nothing will be leaked to the environment,” the Director says. 

Gold Ridge mining operations is set to have its trial production by the 4th quarter of this year.

by Charley Piringi