Midlands Minerals seeks financing for Africa output

* Midlands Minerals CEO says seeking $6 million

* Sian project may start at 30,000 oz/yr by end 2010 (In U.S. dollars)

TORONTO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Midlands Minerals (MEX.V), a small Canadian gold prospector with properties in Africa, is seeking financing as it targets production by the end of next year at its main Ghana project, Chief Executive Kim Harris told Reuters on Friday.

Harris said the company, 40 percent-owned by institutional investors, is seeking about $6 million to cover the costs of restarting production at the Sian open-pit gold mining operation, which it bought from a Chinese company.

"Our aim is to try and build up the production to somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 ounces a year," Harris said on the sidelines of the MineAfrica conference in Toronto.

Miners are tentatively raising investments in key jurisdictions in Africa, but financing has been tight in the wake of the global economic crisis, especially for companies working in regions where political risk is high.

"All the infrastructure is there, but we need to rehabilitate," she said.

The Sian project is equipped with a plant which, once returned to operation, will be able to process 500 tonnes of ore a day with a potential for up to 700 tonnes per day, at 2.3 grams per tonne of gold.

She said the company has budgeted operating costs at between $300 and $350 an ounce, compared with spot prices these days of over $1,000.

Harris said the company has about 2 million tonnes of ore left behind by the previous owners, which is ready for crushing and milling.

Funds will also be used to update a feasibility study that Harris hopes will show more than 1 million ounces of reserves on the property.

"By the end of the next year, if we get our financing now, we should be up and running," said Harris, who has been talking to brokers and investors this week.

Ghana is Africa's No. 2 gold producer, after South Africa.

The MineAfrica event, meant to promote mining investment in Africa, was held in conjunction with the 2009 Canada-South Africa trade meeting, called Indaba for the Zulu word for meeting.

($1=$1.07 Canadian) (Reporting by Pav Jordan; editing by Rob Wilson)