Dar es Salaam - Tanzania's gold output edged up 1.26 percent in 2014 to 1.27 million ounces, snapping a two-year decline, government data showed on Friday.
Tanzania is Africa's fourth-biggest gold producer after South Africa, Ghana and Mali and gold exports are a key source of foreign exchange. Export earnings however fell last year, reflecting lower metal prices globally.
“The total value of mineral exports by the seven major gold mines decreased by 6.7 percent from $1.78 billion in the year 2013 to $1.66 billion in the year 2014,” the state-run Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency (TMAA) said in a report.
Government revenues from gold mining companies, in form of taxes and royalties, rose 29.5 percent last year to 428.24 billion shillings ($210 million), the agency said.
Tanzania's gold production has fallen consecutively since 2012 following the closure of two large-scale mines after they reached the end of mine life.
Gold mining companies operating in Tanzania include AngloGold Ashanti and Acacia Mining Ltd, formerly African Barrick Gold.
Diamond output from a mine owned by South Africa's Petra Diamonds Ltd was up 28.5 percent last year to 203,786 carats, with exports fetching $73.6 million.
Reuters