Ethiopia is not much known in the mining world. Except for the small-scale gold, tantalum and gemstones exports, the country is not among the list of major mineral exporters in Africa.
There are no large-scale mines in Ethiopia. The only large-scale mine is operated by MIDROC Gold in southern Ethiopia. The company started mining in 1998 and annually produces four tons of gold in the Lega Dembi mine in the Oromia Regional State. It mainly exports the gold bullions to Switzerland. MIDROC’s Lega Dembi Gold mine is ranked 170th in the world in terms of value of production in 2012.
The state-owned Ethiopian Minerals Development S.C. (EMDSC) mines tantalum concentrate in the Kenticha mine in the Oromia Regional State in Guji zone. The Kenticha tantalum mine operations has been on hold since 2013 due to the government’s effort to privatize it. EMDSC wants to process the tantalum concentrate rather than exporting the raw tantalum concentrate. The tantalum concentrate is mainly exported to China.
In the south there is also a small state-owned mine called Adola, where alluvial gold has been mined for over half a century. Placer gold has been mined in Ethiopia for more than 2000 years, but a significant large-scale mining sector has not been developed yet. More than one million people are engaged in artisanal mining primarily focused on gold. Artisanal miners pan eight tons of gold every year, contributing a significant amount of foreign currency to the coffers of the government.
