Guines mines minister Mohamed Lamine Fofana said that more than 75%of mining permits granted by Guinea before 2011 are currently inactive and should be cancelled.
The mineral rich,but impoverished West African nation launched an audit of its mining registry in April 2011,following the election of President Alpha Conde,whose swearing in marked the end of decades of dictatorship and military rule.
Ms Lamine Fofana during a news conference in the capital Conakry said that"Of 1 072 permits,818 are inactive.Our objective is of course to cancel them."
All those permits considered inactive were authorisations for exploration.
The minister gave no further details concerning the names of companies holding the licences,but said the full results of the audit would be made public in the coming days.
President Conde came to power in 2010 promising to clean up and strengthen Guinea's minerals sector,whose gold,diamond,bauxite and iron ore reserves have attracted little investment due to decades of corruption and turmoil.
The government has moved to overhaul the mining code and review existing natural resource contracts,particularly those signed during the 2009-2010 period when the country was ruled by a military junta.
Last month it announced it was focusing its review on three of the largest contracts.
