Gold is often considered a scarce asset, but Uganda explained on Wednesday that according to a recent exploration survey, approximately 31 million tons of gold ore is waiting to be mined in the region. Additionally, a spokesman for Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development said an estimated 320,158 tons of refined gold is available.
Uganda claims to have 31 million tons of gold ore – 320,158 tons of refined gold is prospective
Over the past five years, the value of an ounce of pure gold has risen 48% against the US dollar. The spot market value of an ounce of gold hit a record high this year at $2,060 per ounce.
Today, at $1,840 per ounce of gold, the spot market price is up about 0.48% over the past 30 days. Meanwhile,reportsfrom Uganda indicate that the country has discovered a significant amount of gold ore and is trying to attract miners and investors.
On Wednesday, Solomon Muita, a spokesman for the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, told Reuters that the country had discovered gold ore on the 24th. According to Reuters, the country has conducted a number of exploration surveys across the country and discovered 31 million tons of ore.
In addition, the spokesperson noted that 320,158 tons of refined gold could be mined immediately, and that a Chinese company called Wagagagai Mining is already planning to mine in the area.Wagagagai has a March 2022gold production licenseand has just set up a 21-year mining lease with a stakeholder in the Busia district of Uganda’s Eastern Region.
Muyita said most of the ore was found in Karamoja, Busia district, along with central and western regions; Wagagagai is located in Mawero Parish, Butebo sub-county, where it has 12.5 tons of minable estimated to have 12.5 tons of refined gold.
China Wagai Mining will soon begin production – discovering a surprise deposit each year
Muita said, “Wagahai will start production this year and has invested $200 million so far in the construction of the refinery. However, the scarcity of gold is also due to the difficulty of mining the ore; Muyita claims to have 320,158 tons of gold, but only 2,500to 3,000have been mined. Only 2,500to 3,000are mined each year.
Moreover, South Africa is the world’s largest producer; however, significant gold mining also occurs in the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, and China. However, the proposition of precious metal scarcity is constantly being put to the test by the surprise deposits found around the world.
For example, at the end of October 2020, Bitcoin.com’s news desk reported a surprise discovery of approximately 40 million troy ounces of gold in Russia’s Siberian region; in August 2020, the historic Central European region located in Poland and called Silesia A large gold depositwas discovered in a historic region
In March 2021, Yemeni freelance journalist Ahmad Algoubaribased in the capital Sana’a reportedon a huge gold mountain discovered in the Congo. The report noted that it has not been confirmed how much gold has been found in Congo’s gold mountains, while artisanal miners were said to be smuggling gold.
According to a United Nations (UN) report, gold smuggling is very prominent in Africa, with production in the Congo region “continuing to be systematically underreported.” This means that although statistics show that only 2,500 to 3,000 tons of gold is mined each year, a significant amount of unreported mined gold may be on the market.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, NTV Uganda, The Independent,