Managem, a private mining company with Gabonese shareholders which recently began operations in the country, has started producing 50 kg of gold per month, the spokesman for the presidency Alain Claude Bilie Bi Nze said on Friday when he addressed the press in Libreville. "Managem is producing between 45 to 50 kg of gold per month," Bi Nze said but added that Managem estimates that it will start producing 100 kg of gold in the coming months. At the same time, the spokesman for the presidency said that the Gabonese government had put in place measures to control gold production, an exercise which was previously being carried out by illegal gold washers. Last year, the government dismantled a big network of illegal gold washers who were operating from Minkebo national park in Gabon's north-eastern region of Ogouee Ivindo. Gold is the second mineral that is mined in Gabon. The country currently produces 3.5 million tons of manganese each year. Agencies