Sudan Signs Nine Concession Deals for Gold, Copper Mining

Sudan is Africa's third-largest producer of gold. (AFP)
Sudan is Africa's third-largest producer of gold. (AFP)
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Sudan Signs Nine Concession Deals for Gold, Copper Mining

Sudan is Africa's third-largest producer of gold. (AFP)
Sudan is Africa's third-largest producer of gold. (AFP)

Sudan on Thursday signed nine concession agreements for gold and copper mining with eight local and foreign companies, the state news agency SUNA said.

All the agreements are related to gold mining except one for copper, the agency quoted Minister of Minerals Mohamed Bashir Abdalla as saying.

Three companies from Iraq, China, South Africa won four gold mining concessions, and a fourth one from Armenia won the single copper concession, the report said. Four local companies took four gold concessions.

All concession areas are located in the Red Sea State, the West Kordofan state and the Northern State.

Although there are no official figures, annual gold production in Sudan is estimated at tons. However, Sudan has been complaining of widespread gold smuggling.

Last week, Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim acknowledged that the government was helpless in stopping the gold smuggling.

He further noted that certain procedures were taken to limit the illicit activity and to benefit from gold revenues.

Sudan sold 13,327,657 grams of gold worth $437,983,965 from 2015 to 2020, Abdalla said on Thursday, compared with 2,752,889 grams worth $140,805,290 from June 2020 to February 2021.

Gold sales from March to May reached $36,295,970, the minister said during the concession agreements ceremony.

He pledged to encourage modern mining and investment, saying that gold production is the top economic activity and would bring in foreign currency to the country.

He further pledged to simplify the investment procedures, to support gold manufacturing, to amend relevant legislations and tackle other steps that would encourage investment and investors.

For his part, Ibrahim called for expanding the production of minerals and related industries and attracting more investment companies in this field.



Oil Prices Fall More than 1% as Hurricane Rafael Risk Recedes

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
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Oil Prices Fall More than 1% as Hurricane Rafael Risk Recedes

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Oil prices fell on Friday on receding fears over the impact of Hurricane Rafael on oil and gas infrastructure in the US Gulf while investors also weighed up fresh Chinese economic stimulus.

Brent crude oil futures lost $1.04, or 1.38%, to $74.59 a barrel by 1243 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $1.22, or 1.69%, at $71.14.

The benchmarks have reversed Thursday's gains of nearly 1%, but Brent and WTI are still on track to finish 2% up over the week, with investors also examining how US President-elect Donald Trump's policies might affect oil supply and demand, Reuters reported.

Hurricane Rafael, which has caused 391,214 barrels per day of US crude oil production to be shut in, is forecast to weaken and move slowly away from US Gulf coast oilfields in the coming days, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Downward price pressure also came from data showing crude imports in China, the world's largest oil importer, fell 9% in October - the sixth consecutive month to show a year-on-year decline.

"The weakening of oil imports in China is due to weaker demand for oil as a result of the sluggish economic development and rapid advance of e-mobility," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.

China kicked off a fresh round of fiscal support on Friday, announcing a package that eases debt repayment strains for local governments.

The nation's economy has faced strong deflationary pressures in the face of weak domestic demand, a property crisis and mounting financing strains on indebted local governments, limiting their investment capability.

"There were no additional stimulus measures targeting domestic demand, hence the disappointment weighing on prices," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo told Reuters.

Prices had risen on Thursday on expected actions by the incoming Trump administration, such as tighter sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, which could limit oil supply to global markets.

"In the short-term, oil prices might rise if the new President Trump is quick on the draw with oil sanctions," said PVM analyst John Evans.

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday that Trump's proposed policies of broad-based tariffs, deportations and tax cuts would have no near-term impact on the US economy, but the Fed would begin estimating the impact of such policies on its goals of stable inflation and maximum employment.

The Fed cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday.