interesting research 1995 potential exists

No-one has seriously explored for gold in Madagascar for nearly 50 years. Although gold has been
mined in the country for more than a century, comparatively little is known about its objective
potential. For this reason, Madagascar's gold resources fall - by western standards - into the
"hypothetical" or "speculative" categories, not "proved" or "possible" reserves.

Gold exploration in Madagascar, particularly in the initial stage, would be quite risky, and the
crucial early phase of collating all the existing data would be very time-consuming, particularly
for non-French investors. But these are precisely the investors presently sought after by the
Malagasy authorities, understandably keen to enlarge their base of trading partners.

Madagascar's authorities are well aware of their island's gold potential, which is presently the
country's largest mineral export - albeit still clandestine and poorly regulated. The authorities
are keen to attract major gold explorers, within a legal and fair framework.

Very little is known about the potential gold deposits in Madagascar, but the country's estimated gold production is far from negligible. It runs to approximately 3-4 t/y and "could easily be doubled" (Mining Annual Review - 1995, p 149).

This is a large amount considering that all of it presently comes from "artisan" mining - or very
small syndicates - and mining is largely alluvial. Estimates of Madagascar's total gold production since it began late last century is a highly respectable 70 tonnes.