Mali's industrial gold production beats forecasts

BAMAKO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Nearly all of Mali's industrial gold mines produced more than forecast last year, defying expectations of an overall decline, a senior mining official said on Thursday. Mali, Africa's third largest producer after South Africa and Ghana, saw industrial production reach 46.9 tonnes of gold in 2016, up slightly from 46.5 tonnes produced in 2015. "Due to reinforced production infrastructure, nearly all the mining companies surpassed (targets), aside perhaps from th