This strong interest in Mauritania's uranium has not been at the expense of investment in the two mainstays of the country's mining sector, iron and gold. Following its purchase of the Canadian operator of the Tasiast gold mine, Red Back Mining, in September (October 2010, The domestic economy), Kinross Gold (also of Canada) announced plans in late November to invest US$1.5bn to increase production at the mine to 1m troy oz annually by the end of 2013, which would represent a fivefold increase in annual production. In an indication of the company's long-term commitment to the country, Kinross has earmarked US$10m of this investment to establish the Mauritania Mining School, which is expected to start training local specialist workers from 2013. We expect global demand and prices for gold to remain very strong in 2011 before falling back slightly in 2012. However, there is considerable risk to the forecast for gold prices given their upward volatility in recent years. A sharp fall in the price of gold would probably lead Kinross to reconsider its ambitious investment programme at Tasiast.