HAITI ANNOUNCES FIND OF ORE-RICH GOLD FIELD
The  Ministry of Mines
has announced the discovery of a major gold field in Grand Bois
in Haiti's mineral-rich North.
    At a press conference yesterday, a Ministry spokesman
reported the deposit contained an estimated 44 mln tons of ore,
with each ton capable of containing 7,666 grams of gold. The
spokesman gave no estimate of what he thought the find,
discovered on Wednesday, was worth.
    However, mining could only begin after foreign partners
invest eight mln dlrs needed for technical equipment, the
spokesman said.
    The Haitian government has never before operated a gold
mine, but the United Nations has recently completed a three
year feasibility study which lists Grand Bois and Morne Bossa
as sites of important gold deposits.
    In 1971, the Sedren copper mine in Gonaives, operated by a
Canadian firm, closed down after years of mining a concentrate
containing gold as well as copper.
    "The new Grand Bois mine represents large amounts of money,"
said a former official of Sedren Mine.
    "But like everything else there's a catch. The gold has to
be extracted, and first someone has to come up with the money
to finance the operation," the official, who asked not to be
named, told Reuters.
 Reuter
