Gold detection technology and hand-held metal detector devices manufacturer Minelab officially opened its $2-million, 133.8 m2 Middle East and Africa (MEA) general trading facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in January.

The state-of-the-art facility incorporates a showroom, where the complete Minelab product range and technologies are displayed, and demonstrated by Minelab expert trainers.

“A training suite within the facility will also be used as a centre of excellence to provide product knowledge and training sessions updates for the dealership network,” Minelab president and GM Peter Charlesworth tells Mining Weekly.

He says the MEA facility represents a significant strategic advancement for the gold division of the company’s global business operations.

“This investment validates Dubai as a key hub for our gold business in the Middle East and Africa. “The move has enabled Minelab to support the efforts of our dealership network, including our education-based, anticounterfeit strategy,” states Charlesworth.

He says the facility will function as a regional base and well-con- nected transit hub for the movement of Minelab personnel and products across Africa, ensuring access and availability to Minelab customers.
Further, Charlesworth highlights that Minelab has been committed to the artisanal small-scale miners of Africa through its Dubai network of authorised dealers for the past ten years.

“However, owing to the boom in small-scale mining activities and the significant success of Minelab’s gold-detection product, counterfeit manufacturers are known to target artisanal gold mining communities by illegally producing counterfeit mining products,” Charlesworth notes, adding that the most recent finds of counterfeit Minelab products were valued at more than $10-million.
He adds that a recent police operation in Dubai led to a significant find of counterfeit Minelab equipment, which he says reaffirms the organisation’s belief that Dubai is the best location for the new store, as local police authorities will help in ensuring the protection of customer interests by safeguarding the authenticity of Minelab products and brands.

Charlesworth points out that the company’s Africa-based customers provide regular updates on their experiences and cited a few examples of customers that have recently had significant success using Minelab products, including the discovery of a 3 kg nugget in Libya in July 2014, which was valued at about $100 000; a 280 g nugget in Côte d'Ivoire in May 2014, which was valued at about $11 500; and 18 kg of gold in Burkina Faso in January 2014, which was valued at about $740 000.