UK-Ethiopia Investment Trade and Tourism Forum

9th June 2011

Savoy Place, London

Investment Opportunities in the Mining Sector of Ethiopia

Ministry of Mines (MoM)

June, 2011

1. INTRODUCTION

Location:- Ethiopia is Located in the Horn

of Africa

Neighbours: Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan

and Eritrea

Surface Area = 1.13 million km2

Climate: Two seasons;

• Dry season:- Oct. – May

• Wet season:- June – Sept

Population:- > 73 million

Capital city:- Addis Ababa

Export:- The major export comes from the agricultural sector.

Mineral Export:- Gold, Tantalum, Gemstones, Dimension stones

Economic growth:- Double digit GDP growth for the

past 5 to 6 years

Contribution of mining sector to GDP:- The mining sector contributes less than 5% to the country’s GDP

i) Southern Greenstone BeltMineral potentials hosted in the Southern Greenstone Belt are:-

a) Primary Gold Deposit

Large scale gold mines:- Lega- Dembi and Sakaro Gold Mines (owned by the private company)

b) Placer gold deposit

(mined by Artisanal

miners and small scale mining)

c) Columbo-tantalite deposit of Kenticha area (contains about 20,000 tones of tantalite ore and mined by the small scale mining)

d) Phosphate (+ Iron) Deposits of Melka Arba area containing about 160 million tons of phosphate and 10 million tons of iron

Geology Legend

Diorite

Gabbro

Granite-tonalite

Lakes

Metaultramafics-mafics

Metavolcano-sediments

Undifferentiated_gneisses_and_schists

Distribution of Precambrian rocks in Ethiopia

Suda

n

Eritrea

Djibouti

Kenya

Somalia

Suda

n

36°0'0"E

36°0'0"E

40°0'0"E

40°0'0"E

44°0'0"E

44°0'0"E

48°0'0"E

48°0'0"E

6°0'0"N 6°0'0"N

10°0'0"N 10°0'0"N

14°0'0"N 14°0'0"N

±

130 0 130 260 390 52065km

Dry Road

Main Road

Mining

Exploration

Prospecting

River

ETH_Border

e) Chromite and Nickel occurrences

f) Industrial and construction minerals/ rocks (e.g. Feldspars, kaoline, gemstone )

2. Mineral and Petroleum Potentials of Ethiopia

ii) Western Greenstone BeltThis belt hosts:-

a) Primary Gold Occurrences• Tulu Kapi and Metekel Au

potentials at advanced stage of exploration (+feasibility study),

• Dul, Akobo, etc. occurrences

b) Placer gold deposit (mined

by artisanal miners and small scale mining)

c) Yuddo Platinum Deposit (Small scale mining is terminated due to recovery problem)

d) Phosphate and Fe Deposits of Bikilal area (contains about 180 million tons of phosphate and 57 million

tons of iron)

e) Base metal occurrences

f) Other industrial and construction minerals/ rocks(e.g. Marble, granite)

iii) Northern Greenstone Belt The major mineral potentials

in this belt are:-

a) Primary Gold Occurrences (VMS Discoveries):-

• Terer Au potential (Terer Cu-Zn-Au-Ag deposit):- atadvanced stage of exploration(a pre-feasibility study is inprogress)

• Terakimti Cu-Zn-Au-Ag deposit (The Tera kimti VMS mineralisation is parallel to the Terer zone)

• Adi Bladie Cu deposit

b) Placer Gold Occurrences (mined by the artisanal miners)

c) Industrial and construction

minerals/ rocks (e.g. Granite, gabbro,

marble)

Mineral Resources in the Tertiary volcanics & sediments

a) Evaporite deposits mainly in the Afar Depression:-

Potash (at exploration & mining stage)

Salt (rock salt, brine) – at small and large scale mining

Soda ash (in Lake Abiyata and Shala) -mainly in the MER and contains about 460 million tons of reserve.

b) Gemstone (Opal) depositsmainly in the central part of the country

c) Geo – Energy Resources:-

Coal and oilshale deposits(The coal and oilshale - bearing sediments ofEthiopia are mainly confined within theTertiary sediments containing about 430million tons of coal reserve)

Geothermal Potentials mainly

confined within the EARS . Of the estimated5000 MW power generation from thegeothermal potential, currently only 7.3MW power is produced.

d) Epithermal Au and associated

metals mainly in the EARS and other

volcanic areas

e) Other Industrial and

construction minerals/ rocks(e.g.Gypsum, pumice, limestone,

clay, sandstone)

Aluto-LanganoGeothermal Field

TendahoGeothermal Field

Geothermal Potential withinthe Afar Rift and MER

Sedimentary Basins of Ethiopia:- potential zones

for petroleum, industrial and construction raw materials

•Mekele Basin,

•Abay Basin,

•Ogaden Basin, and

Tertiary Rift Basins (confined mainly within the Eastern Branch of the EARS)

Gambela Basin

3. The main issues and incentives addressed in the mining legislations of Ethiopia (that encourage investment in Ethiopia)

• Investment policy of the Government:- recognizes the private sector as an

engine for economic growth of the country;

• Conduct of exploration and mining operations:- Generally accepted

international mining industry standards and practices;

• Right to sell mineral products:- With the prior consent of the MoM, the

holder of the mining license has a right to sell minerals locally or abroad;

• Exemption from customs duties and taxes on materialsnecessary for mineral operations: -The mining law provides exemption

from customs duties and taxes on equipment, machinery, vehicles and spare partsnecessary for the mineral operations;

• Foreign currency:- The mining law guarantees the opening and operation of a foreign

currency account in Ethiopia; retention of portion of foreign currency earning and remittance ofprofits, dividends, principal and interest on a foreign loan etc. out of Ethiopia.

• Royalty:- A licensee shall pay a 2 to 8 % royalty on ad Val Orem at production site

• Income tax:- A licensee shall pay 35% income tax on taxable income generated

from mining operations;

• Cost recovery:- all mineral operation costs are 100% recoverable as incurred;

No Company name

Nationality

(Country)

Foreign

company

or Joint

venture

License type Mineral type

1 Sainik Coal Mining PLC Indian F Exploration and

mining

Potash

2 Abyssinia Cements PLC. British -

Indian

F Exploration Iron and coal

3 NYOTA Minerals

(Exploration) Ltd.

British (UK) F Exploration At advanced stage of

exploration for Au and base

metals(feasibility study)

4 Sheba Exploration Ltd. British (UK) F Exploration Au and base metals

5 Aberdeen International

INC.

Canadian F Mineral

Exploration

Au and base metals

etc Total No. of companies (F and/or JV)

involved in Mineral Operations > 80 Total No. of licenses > 180 Total capital investment ≈ 1 Billion USD

4. Some of the foreign companies currently involved inthe Mineral Exploration and Mining of Ethiopia

No Company Name

Natio-nality

Foreign -JV LicenseType

Mineral type

Region Area (sq.km)

Capital (USD)

1 Abyssinia Cements Plc British-

IndianForeign Explor-

ationIron Ore Oromia 227.128

235,347.72

2 GP Resource Mining Plc.

Ethio-British Foreign Explo-

ration

Gold & Associa-ted Metals

Bensh-angulGumuz

412.224 528,453.24

8 NYOTA Minerals (Eth. Ltd.)

British Foreign Explo-ration

Gold & Platinum Group Metals

Oromia 277 1,269,000.00

4 Sheba Exploration Ltd.

British Foreign Explor-ation

Gold & Base Metals

Tigray 50.981 542,565.95

5 Nubia Gold Explorati-on Ltd.

British Foreign Explo-ration

Gold & related Metals

Bensh-angulGumuz 1953.58 800,680.00

etc Total No. of companies = 9Total No. of Licenses = 16

Total capital investment = 17,645,506.32 USD

Some of the British Companies currently involved in the Mining Sector of Ethiopia

No Company name Country of

registration

License type

1 Africa Oil Corp. Canada Exploration (PSA)

2Pexco Exploration (East Africa)

N.V.Malaysia

Exploration (PSA)

3 SouthWest Energy Ltd. Hong – Kong Exploration (PSA)

4 Tullow Oil Company British (UK) Exploration (PSA)

5 Falcon Petroleum Ltd. Cyprus Exploration (PSA)

6 Calvalley Petroleum Ltd. Canada Exploration (PSA)

7 Epsilon Energy Ltd.Barbados (South

America)

Exploration (PSA)

8 Afar Exploration Company Ltd. USA Exploration (PSA)

Total No. of companies currently involved in petroleum

exploration = 8

Total No. of licenses issued = 12

Foreign companies currently involved in the Petroleum Exploration of Ethiopia

5. Current Investment Opportunities in theMining Sector of Ethiopia

The MoM welcomes all interested investors to come toEthiopia and be partners in the development of ourprospective mineral and geo – energy resources. Therefore,all interested companies are invited:-

•To explore for gold and related base metals:- Toexplore gold and related base metals mainly in thepotential areas of northern, western and southerngreenstone belts of Ethiopia in unoccupied areas by theother companies;

•To explore for Tantalum:- To explore tantaliteoccurrences in the pegmatite bearing Precambrianbasement rocks in the vicinity of the active tantalite mineareas in the southern greenstone belt or elsewhere.

•;

To assess for iron and phosphate occurrences in the west and

southern greenstone belts or elsewhere,

To explore for platinum group potentials in the ultramafic rocksof the Western Greenstone Belt;

To carry out advanced exploration and development in joint venture with the already licensed local and/ or foreign companies,

To conduct petroleum exploration mainly in the Paleozoic –Mesozoic sedimentary basins, and oil shale exploration mainly in the Tertiary sediments. Accordingly, about ten (10) open blocks are ready for licensing.

To explore for coal potentials in the Tertiary sediments

To explore epithermal gold and associated metals in or near areas of Tertiary

volcanism,

• To explore for industrial and construction minerals/ rocks

Distinguished guests,

Ethiopia currently enjoys the participation of both foreign and

local investors in exploring and mining as a result of the

conducive fiscal and legislative environment.

The mineral and geo - energy resources of Ethiopia are yet

untouched and so the country has sufficient potential to

accommodate the interest of so many other investors.

Therefore, I would like to invite all interested investors to come

to Ethiopia and be partners in the development of our prospective

mineral resources.

Invest in the mining industry of Ethiopia for the mutual benefit !!