Firm to open first gold refinery

A UGANDAN company backed by a Belgian investor would open the country’s first gold refinery by the end of this year to process raw gold produced mainly from the region, a senior company official said. Uganda’s mineral reserves are generally viewed as under exploited. Although there are gold deposits, it has no big commercial mine involved in production of the precious metal, leaving the field to smaller operators. The country serves, however, as a transit point for gold exports from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. Richard Kaijuka, the chairman of African Gold Refinery, said his company had built a processing plant in Entebbe. Tony Goetz, a Belgian gold refinery, is the company’s main investor. – Reuters

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