Fiji’s minerals sector is tipped to lead its post-COVID economic recovery, with gold production expected to strengthen later this year and interest in gold prospecting on the rise.
“The mining sector has been quite resilient throughout this pandemic because of the favourable economic conditions that the sector is operating in. For example, we’ve received a lot of interest in gold exploration because the gold price is very high,” said Acting Director of Mines, Raymond Mohammed earlier this month.
“For mining companies that are already operating in Fiji, they’ve been drawing up recruitment schedules and also ramping up production within the mine itself because of this very favourable economic conditions that’s presented to these mining operators to be able to further investment in the sector. So in terms of economic recovery, the Department looks at the sector as very important in this difficult times that the country is faced with.”
Although Fiji doesn’t rival Papua New Guinea or New Caledonia as a Pacific minerals powerhouse, the country does see potential in hosting mineable resources, such as gold, silver and bauxite.
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