Rabat – Morocco’s gold reserves are estimated at 22.12 metric tonnes (mt) and are the fifth largest in Africa, according to the German database Statistica.
Moroccan gold reserves have notably stabilized at the 22.12 mt mark since the second quarter of 2022, marking an increase of 0.01 mt from the first quarter of 2018.
Statistica data currently shows that Morocco has larger gold reserves than Nigeria (21.37 mt), Mauritius (12.44 mt), Ghana (8.74 mt), Tunisia (6.84 mt), and Mozambique (3.94 mt).
Morocco’s neighbor Algeria however, topped the regional list with 174 metric tonnes ahead of South Africa, Libya, and Egypt, which have so far discovered gold reserves of 125 mt, 117 mt, and 80.73 mt, respectively.
As for Morocco, the country still has potential for untapped and undiscovered gold reserves since gold mining operations continue to discover new reservoirs across the country,
In February, for instance, the Canadian mining firm Stellar AfricaGold announced the discovery of a third gold reservoir during its exploratory operation in the Tichka Est region, located 80 kilometers from Marrakech.
The reservoir spans more than 2.2km and three zones, A, B, and C with the last one recording significant levels of gold that reach up to 5.81 g/t Au (grams of gold per tonne of material) per four meters.
As of 2019, Moroccan gold production reached 390,000 kilograms annually, according to CEIC.
Morocco’s mining sector is expected to grow over the next few years, since the country is considered the best place for mining investment in Africa, and the eighth-best in the world, according to the Canadian think tank the Fraser Institute.
Currently, the Moroccan mining sector represents 10% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with 90% of revenues coming from phosphates.
