2merkato

The Ethiopian Ministry of Mines is in the process of facilitating visas for the Tullow drilling crew that will oversee the launch of drilling processes by the company in January. The crew is expected to be composed of 20 primarily Polish experts.

Tullow is preparing to launch drilling activity on its concession in the Southern Omo Valley according to its tentative program said Sinkensh Ejigu, State Minister for Mines.

The schedule set for drilling may be changed if the visa processes prove to take longer than expected she said.

The revenue Ethiopia earns from the mining sector has grown notably in the last two years according to the Ministry of Mines.
Mining investment projects in Ethiopia were valued at 13 billion birr in 2010 but this sum has increased by 1.1 billion birr to reach 14.1 billion birr according to Bacha Faji, Ministry of Public Relations and Director of Communication.

The ministry has also licensed 56 more investment projects in the last two years with most of the licenses issued in the petroleum exploration and mineral exploration sectors he noted.

Ethiopia has been able to secure 162 million US dollars from petroleum exploration licenses, royalty tax, signing bonus and building payments in the previous fiscal year.

Investors have expressed in partnering with Nyota Minerals in efforts to develop its gold concession in Ethiopia. The interest expressed by financiers increases the company’s confidence in the project announced Nyota.

Nyota is in the process of finalizing plans to develop a 250 million US dollar mine Ethiopia and is seeking to raise funds through a combination of equity and credit.

The company has considered selling a stake in the project as one option for financing according to Richard Chase, Chief Executive for Nyota. The company has been approached by several investors interested in a acquiring a stake in the project expected to be the second gold mine in the country he said.

Ethio-Potash has requested 70 MW of dedicated power for its extraction project in the Danakil Depression of Ethiopia. The company needs the power supply to be available by 2014 as it launches extraction efforts after completing its feasibility study in the middle of this year.

The company has been in the process of negotiations with the Ministry of Water and Energy and the Ministry of Mines according to Jorgen Ole Haslestad,  Chief  Executive of Yara International which owns a 51% stake of the company.

Ethio-Potash can potentially extract 1.5 tons of potash a year according to the 2012 first quarter report released by Yara. The project costs at the Danakil Depression project can extend to as much  of 2 billion birr said Hoslestad.