Ivory Coast to raise Gold output,tax miners

After announced plans to increase gold production to 20 tons by 2013, West Africa’s Ivory Coast said it will soon introduce a windfall tax on gold miners.

According to a government spokesman, the move would help the country benefits from higher world prices for the precious metal.

The new tax will yield some $79 million in additional revenue to the country this year. The spokesman however did not provide further details on the proposed tax.

Major miners operating in the country include West Africa-focused Randgold Resources, Australia’s Newcrest Mining and Toronto-listed La Mancha Resources.

Other regional minerals producing countries are also seeking to boost state share in revenues, including Guinea, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Senegal.

Ivory Coast iproduced some 12 tonnes of gold in 2011 as strong gold prices rekindled interest in gold deposits in the region.

Analysts said better gold production will help improve Ivory Coast’s shattered public finances after months of crisis during which revenues were hit by war, sanctions and a liquidity crunch.