Mining is an integral part of Fiji’s economy, with gold exports representing the country’s second largest export.
Gold production is dominated by a two mines, the largest being the 120 000 ounces / year Vatukoula Mine, owned by Emperor Gold Mines in which Ivanhoe Mines has an 18% interest.
Exploration licences within the country are granted for gold, base metals, bauxite, limestone/marble, aggregate, petroleum and natural gas, and geothermal heat., Gold, however, remains the main focus of mineral exploration in Fiji.
Fiji forms part of the Pacific ‘Rim of Fire’. This active tectonic boundary between the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plate is well recognised as the locus of several major world-class porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold mineralisations. Fiji’s central geographic location on the major trade routes, coupled with this strategic geological setting, has normally attracted multinational exploration companies to invest and prospect for potential mineral deposit in Fiji for a number of years.
