Minister'sMessage

The Ministry of Minesand Petroleum (MoMP) is one of the Federal Ministries which is given theresponsibility of the proper development of mining and petroleum. Therole of the Ministry is mainly to generate the basic Geosciences data ofthe country, to promote the mineral, petroleum and natural gas potentials ofthe country, to negotiate and issue licenses to the private investors andensure that they conduct mineral and petroleum operations in accordance withtheir concession agreements. Ethiopia has an ambitious target for enabling themining sector contributes 10 percent of the GDP by 2025.

The exploration forthe assessment of the mineral and petroleum resources has been carried out bothby the Ethiopian Geological Survey and private companies. These geologicalstudies have come up with significant discoveries of gold, tantalum, phosphorus,iron, salt, potash, soda ash, gemstones, coal, geothermal, natural gas, otherindustrial and construction minerals / rocks in different parts of the country.

Gold has beenproduced from placer deposits mainly by the artisanal miners for severalthousand years. There is also a large scale primary gold mining operationat Lega Dembi and Sakaro which produces about 5 tons of gold per annum. Thisgold mine, which is owned by the private company, occurs in the southern partof the country hosted in the Southern Greenstone Belt. Now a days significantand well defined organic gold and volcanogenic massive sulfide(VMS) depositsare also outlined by the private companies in the Western and NorthernGreenstone Belts of the country. There is a small scale tantalum miningoperation, called Kenticha Tantalite mining, hosted in the pegmatite rocks ofthe Southern Greenstone Belt. Huge industrial and construction raw materialsoccur in various rocks varying in age from Precambrian to Recent indifferentparts of the country.

Ethiopia has a largepotential for geothermal energy resource with several targets outlined withinthe East African Rift System. There are three gas field discoveries, calledCalub, Hilala and Genale gas fields in the Ogaden Basinin, the south easternpart of the country. These gas fields contain a total of about 4.6 TCF gas.

The mining industryin Ethiopia is dramatically growing with major involvement of the privatesector. The investment policy of Ethiopia is generally established underthe principle and practices of a free market driven economy. The government hasenacted a very competitive legal and fiscal regime that attracted many localand foreign mining companies to involve in the mineral operations starting fromexploration to mining activities. These laws have been amended so many times tomake them more competitive and to create more conducive environment to investin the sector.

The investment in themining sector is growing from time to time and accordingly revenue generationfrom this sector is also increasing. The government of Ethiopia iscommitted to manage all necessary revenues generated from the mining sector ina transparent and accountable manner. These incomes should be publishedofficially and used transparently. Therefore, the wealth that can be generatedfrom the mineral and petroleum resources will contribute more for the developmentof the country.

Many foreign and somelocal companies have been granted reconnaissance, exploration and mininglicenses for gold and base metals, cement and ceramic raw materials, potash,diatomite, other industrial and construction materials.

The mineral resourcesof Ethiopia are yet untouched and so the country has sufficient potential toaccommodate the interest of so many other investors. Therefore, the Ministrywould like to invite all interested companies to invest in the mining industryof Ethiopia for the mutual benefit!!

Dr. Samuel Hurkato