The Ethiopian government is to exert pressure on mining companies following the dropping of gold’s price in the international market. The government is planning to force both local and international companies that are engaged in exploring gold to start production.
During the Thursday nine month report, Prime Minister Haile Mariam told the House, even if the mining sector was expected to show a remarkable growth the revenue from the export of gold fell by 27 percent. He has attributed the fall to the decline of gold’s international price.
The government is ready to push companies that are involved in the exploration of gold to start producing gold. Even though the price of gold is declining, Haile Mariam said, the government will try to increase the earnings from the export of gold by improving technology, leadership, marketing strategies and professionalism. He also added that the government will work on convincing mining companies to explore as well as export their product.
The Reporter was told by a senior official from the Ministry of Mines, companies that were engaged in mineral exploration were to face a tight control by the Ministry. He also added “The ministry will closely monitor the activities of the companies engaged in the exploration and production of minerals. We will identify the companies that are working according to their work plan and those who fail to perform to the level of our expectation.” Companies that already discovered gold are also to be persuaded by the Ministry to start mining as soon as possible, the senior official said.
Nevertheless, a private mining consultant told The Reporter it would not be an easy task to persuade the companies to start production immediately after discovering gold. The consultant added “You need to conduct feasibility studies. Companies should raise funds from banks and stock markets to venture into developing mines. All these require prolonged time and the Ministry of Mines knows this very well”.
Major mining companies that already discovered new gold include National Mining Company, Ezana Mining, Nyota Minerals, MIDROC Gold, Ascom Mining, Stratex and Tigrai Resources. some of these companies are on the course of beginning production.
In addition to industrialy produced gold, artisanal miners also contribute to the nations gold export share. During the last fiscal year artisanal miners managed to pan and sell 8.3 tons of gold valued USD 420 Million.
The Ministry of Mines aims to increase the nation’s foreign currency generated from mineral resources by ten folds in 2020-2023.
Source: The Reporter
