What kind of mineral operations license do you need?
The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum issues seven different mineral operations licenses in total. These are:
- A Reconnaissance License
- An Exploration License
- A Retention License
- An Artisanal Mineral Operations License
- A Special Small Scale Mineral Operations License
- A Small Scale Mineral Operations License
- A Large Scale Mineral Operations License
To learn more about the different licenses, please visit our “Legislation and Regulations” page. There is also more detail supplied below.
How to register on the online Ethiopian Mining Cadastre Portal
You can also watch our video tutorial: How to register on the Ethiopian Mining Cadastre Portal
How to submit an online application for a license
Once registered, users will be able to submit all applications and supporting documentation electronically via the Portal.
A Reconnaissance License
This license allows its holders to do a general search for any mineral in a particular region.
Three important facts about a Reconnaissance License:
- 1. A Reconnaissance License is issued for an 18-months period
- 2. It is non-renewable
- 2. It is non-exclusive
An Exploration License
An Exploration License allows its holders to search for any mineral in a specified region by means of photographs, images, geological, geochemical, geophysical or drilling.
Four important facts about an Exploration License:
-
- It is exclusive
- It is initially issued for 3 years
- Upon each renewal, the license holder is required to relinquish a portion of the licensed exploration area unless they can declare a resource. See this Proclamation for more details.
- It can be issued and renewed for a maximum cumulative total of 10 years
A Retention License
A Retention License can be issued to an applicant that has discovered a mineral resource of economic significance, but which cannot be developed immediately due to adverse market conditions or because the required processing technology might be unavailable.
Three important facts about a Retention License:
- 1. It is exclusive
- 2. It is initially issued for 3 years
- 3. After the 3-year period it may be renewed once more for an additional 3 years
An Artisanal Mineral Operations License
An Artisanal Mineral Operations License is issued either to an individual or a small or micro-enterprise whose mining operation is mostly manual and does not involve employed workers.
Three important facts about an Artisanal Mineral Operations License:
- 1. It is exclusive
- 2. It is issued for a maximum of 2 years
- 3. It is non-renewable
A Special Small Scale Mineral Operations License
A Special Small Scale Mineral Operations License is issued to holders of an Artisanal Mineral Operations License who now have the capacity to employ machinery in their mining operations.
Four important facts about Special Small Scale Mineral Operations License:
- 1. It is exclusive
- 2. It is initially issued for 10 years
- 3. After the initial 10-year period, it needs to be renewed every 5 years
- 4. It is only issued to holders of an Artisanal Mineral Operations License
A Small Scale Mineral Operations License
A Small Scale Mineral Operations License is issued a mining operation whose annual run-of-mine ore does not exceed a specified amount. The maximum allowed run-of-mine ore amount varies depending on the relevant mineral. View the maximum run-of-mine ore amounts here
Three important facts about a Small Scale Mineral Operations License:
- 1. It is exclusive
- 2. It is initially issued for 10 years
- 3. After the initial 10-year period, it needs to be renewed every 5 years
Maximum run-of-mine ore for a Small Scale Mineral Operations License
For metallic minerals (e.g. iron, lead, copper or nickel) the maximum is
- 150, 000 tons for an open pit mine, or
- 75, 000 tons for underground operations
For industrial minerals (e.g. kaolin, bentonite, diatomite, dolomite, quartz or coal) the maximum is
- 120, 000 tons
For construction minerals the maximum is
- 80, 000 meters cubed for material like sand, gravel, pumice, ignimbrite or clay
- 10, 000 meters cubed for dimension stones (e.g. marble or granite)
For salts extracted from brine, the maximum is
- 14, 000 tons
For precious or semi-precious stones, the maximum is
- 100, 000 meters cubed for a placer operation
- 75, 000 tons for a primary deposit mining operation
For more details, see this Proclamation
A Large Scale Mineral Operations License
A Large Scale Mineral Operations License is issued to a mining operation whose annual run-off of mine ore exceeds the maximums amounts allowed under a Small Scale Mineral Operations License.
Three important facts about a Large Scale Mineral Operations License:
- 1. It is exclusive
- 2. It is initially issued for 20 years
- 3. After the initial 20-year period, it needs to be renewed every 10 years