RABAT - Moroccan mining company Managem will start producing gold in its mine in Guinea in the second half this year as part of its expansion plan in Africa, its chief executive, Imad Toumi, said.

With reserves exceeding 1.4 million ounces of gold, the Guinea mine, known as Tri-Ki, will enable the group to produce 140,000 ounces of gold a year, Toumi told Reuters by email.

In Sudan, the Casablanca-listed company operates the Gabgaba gold mine where it has partnered with China’s Wanbao mining to increase production to five tonnes of gold annually.

Gold currently accounts for 20% of the firm's turnover, he said, adding that Managem hopes to increase that share to 50%.

"Managem operates a diversified and balanced portfolio including precious metals, base metals and cobalt, making the Group more resilient to fluctuations in metals price," Toumi said.

In Morocco, the firm has finished a feasibility study to develop the Tizert copper and silver project.

Tizert mine will help Managem reach an annual production target of 120,000 tonnes of copper concentrate annually for spending of $320 million, he said.

The company posted a profit of 225 million dirhams ($61.2 mln) last year after a loss of 427 million dirhams a year earlier.

This improvement came on the back of “the good performance of production volumes of base metals and the increase of precious metal prices,” Toumi said.

The company, however, withheld dividends from last year’s earnings in order to boost its development strategy.

(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) ((ahmed.eljechtimi@thomsonreuters.com;))