Industrial gold production in Mali is expected to fall by 8.3% year on year to 59.77 tonnes this year compared with 2019 due to falling output at several mines, Mali's mines and petroleum ministry said on Wednesday.

It said total gold production is expected at 65.7 tonnes in 2020, including 6 tonnes from the artisanal, or small-scale mining sector, compared with 71.1 tonnes a year ago.

Companies operating in Mali's mining sector includes Barrick Gold, Resolute Mining, Anglogold Ashanti and B2Gold.

Reserves at Anglogold Ashanti's Sadiola mine is reaching depletion phase, and will produce 832 kg compared with 4.6 tonnes last year, mines ministry official Mamadou Sidibé told Reuters.

He added that output at Barrick's Morila mine is expected at 1.9 tonnes, compared with 3.5 tonnes the previous year, while Resolute's Finkolo mine will produce 440 kg compared 6.6 tonnes in 2019.

Other mines, such as Resolute's Syama, and B2Gold's Fekola mines, are expected to boost production, the ministry said.

Here below is a breakdown of Mali's gold production forecast. *Output in kilograms:

MINE (OPERATOR) 2020 FORECAST 2019 OUTPUT

Semos (Anglogold) 832 4,644.412

Morila (Barrick) 1,917.367 3,505.116

Yatela (Anglogold) 0 132.26

Somika (Endeavour) 0 0

Somilo (Randgold) 20,234.203 23,937.459

Somico (Endeavour) 3,777.672 3,405.472

Syama (Resolute) 7,835.712 2,211.251

Faboula Gold SA 339.996 257.755

Nampala (Robex) 1,589.604 1,783.334

Fekola (B2GOLD) 18,661.8 14,914.089

Komana (Hummingbird) 4,066.741 3,773.140

Somifi-SA (Resolute) 440.011 6,613.852

Metedia 18.5 11.905

Total 59,773.6 65,190.045

*Source of data: Mali's mines ministry

(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Aurora Ellis)