KHARTOUM — Sudan and Saudi Arabia are targeting a 2014 start for deep-water mining of a Red Sea basin believed rich in gold and copper, Sudan's mines minister said Tuesday as Khartoum seeks to replace lost oil revenues. Manafa International Trade Company of Saudi Arabia and its joint venture partner Diamond Fields International Ltd of Canada received a license in 2010 to explore the area about 115 kilometers (71 miles) west of Jeddah. “It is already started and it's underway,” the Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Ali Al-Naimi, said on the sidelines of a regional mining conference. “We are expecting starting production maybe 2014,” added Sudan's Minister of Mining Kamal Abdel Latif. He said reserves are “very huge” at 150 tons of gold and more than one million tons of copper. However, Diamond Fields has reported estimated copper reserves at less than half that amount. Diamond Fields said last month that it is scheduled to meet in December with “third parties to discuss possible financing options” for the Red Sea project. In Tuesday morning trade the company's shares traded at 3.5 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Sudan and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement in 1974 to exploit the Red Sea's resources. Sudan is trying to boost exports of gold and other non-petroleum products after the separation of South Sudan last year left Khartoum without three-quarters of its crude production. As a result, inflation has soared above 40 percent and the currency has plunged in value after Sudan lost most of its international payments capacity and half its fiscal revenues. Latif said Sudan has this year produced 41 tons of gold worth $2.5 billion and is targeting another 50 tons next year, that could potentially make it Africa's third largest gold miner behind South Africa and Ghana, and push it into the top 15 producers globally. Inside Sudan, the government has already licensed more than 85 companies to explore for gold in more than 120 locations, Latif told an Arab mining conference. Seven firms had reached the production stage so far and the number would double by the end of the year, he added. “Till yesterday we reached 41 tons of gold,” he told reporters on the conference sidelines. He said that in 2013, gold production would be similar to this year's projected level of around 50 tons. In 2011, Sudan earned around $1.5 billion from the export of 33.7 tons. Most of the known gold reserves at the time of the Arab African country's division were in the north and, while there are gold deposits in the south, there is little data. — Agencies
