Suriname to start Gold refining next year

                 South American nation Suriname will built it's first ever gold refinery with the help of Dubai's Kaloti Group.

Kaloti, one of the world's largest gold and precious metals refiners and trading houses, has started building the precious metals refinery and bullion manufacturing plant in a project with operational funding of as much as $20 million.

The company says it will be a joint venture with local gold traders and the government of Suriname.

Construction of the precious metals refinery and bullion manufacturing plant, which will be the first in the country, already has started and refining is expected to begin by the middle of 2014.

Production is forecast to reach 60 tonnes of refined gold by the time the smelter is fully operational in 2016.

To be called Kaloti Suriname Mint House, the refinery will also process gold from the Guyana Shield and the Caribbean and focus on melting and producing gold bars.

Suriname currently produces an average of 40 tonnes of gold a year but expects about $2.5 billion to be invested in gold projects by Canadian and US companies in the next few years, with the precious metal becoming a significant contributor to its economy.

Kaloti Group has investments across the board, from the production of gold from its raw form through to final production of jewellery, ornaments and bullion bars.

Suriname is a tiny nation in north-east South America that has only relatively recently discovered its wealth of gold.

Country's economy is dominated by the mining industry, with exports of alumina, gold and oil accounting for about 85 per cent of exports and 25 per cent of government revenue.

Source : BullionStreet