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KHARTOUM, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's Minerals Minister Ahmed Mohamed Sadiq Al-Karuri on Wednesday expected his country to lift its rank in Africa in terms of gold production by the end of this year.
Sudan's gold production will reach 100 tons by the end of this year, Al-Karuri said in a statement Wednesday.
He said if Sudan's gold production reaches that target, the country will rank second in Africa and will join the club of the top 10 gold producing countries in the world.
Currently, Sudan ranks third after Ghana and South Africa in gold production in Africa, as the Sudanese government is expecting the country to rank first by 2018.
Earlier, the Sudanese minerals ministry said Sudan's gold production for the first half of this year has reached more than 45 tons.
According to the ministry, there are over two million Sudanese employees in traditional mining, producing 80 percent of the country's gold.
In February this year, the United States drafted and introduced a resolution to the United Nations Security Council demanding sanctions be imposed on gold exports produced in Sudan.
However, the council postponed its examination of the drafted resolution. Enditem
