The Ethiopian Ministry of Mines has issued a new directive that restricts the size of land that can be acquired by artisanal miners or small scale producers to five square kilometers, according to The Reporter.

It is the newly appointed Ministry of States for Mines, Tewodros Gebregziabher, that signed the new directive. In addition to limiting the land to be acquired by artisanal miners, the new directive sets a six months time limit for exploration and production study by artisanal miners and small scale gold producers. The limit for exploration and production study in the previous directive was three years.

In addition to these, the new directive requires companies engaged in small scale gold production to present a contract of work that illustrates they have hired professional required for exploration work.

According to a senior official at the Ministry quoted by The Reporter, some small scale gold explorers and artisanal miners acquire the land and do not start work for a very long time. He added “They do not have the required finance and professionals to execute the exploration work. We do not tolerate that anymore”.

Artisanal miners play a great role in the Ethiopian mineral export. Alluvial gold is produced by artisanal miners in five different States; Oromia, Tigrai, Gambella, Benishangul and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples. Artisanal miners sell their gold to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), the only organ legally authorized to buy gold from artisanal miners.

In the last fiscal year NBE bought 8.3 tons of gold from artisanal miners worth US$ 420 Million. 

Source: The Reporter