Mali's gold production up by 0.4 tonnes in 2016

BAMAKO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Mali produced 50.9 tonnes of gold in 2016, up from 50.5 tonnes produced in 2015, the mines ministry said on Thursday.

Output in Africa's third largest producer after South Africa and Ghana was boosted in part by improvements in the Syama mine owned by Australia's Resolute Mining, said Lassana Guindo, technical adviser in charge of mines.

Industrial production hit 46.9 tonnes, with artisanal mining adding another 4 tonnes, he said.

Production forecasts were not available, but the mining minister previously forecast output of 60 tonnes per year by the end of 2017, helped by output from two new mines.

Canadian miner B2GOLD's Fekola mine is expected to produce about 10 tonnes per year and Hummingbird Resources' Yanfolila mine about 3 tonnes, according to the ministry.

The industry contributes around a quarter of the government's revenues.

(Reporting By Tiemoko Diallo,; Writing By Edward McAllister; Editing by Greg Mahlich)