Ethiopia might be sitting in the largest gold deposit in the world

Tigrai Online, updated Jan. 24, 2018

The Asosa zone is made up of flatlands, rugged valleys, mountainous ridges, streams and rivers. It is densely vegetated by bamboo and incense trees, with remnants of tropical rainforests along the river valleys. The zone, which is part of Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region, is spotted with archaeological sites containing clues to how people lived here thousands of years ago, together with ancient mining pits and trenches.

Several mines are up and running, neither of them in Asosa. One is at Lega Dembi slightly to the east, owned by Saudi interests. The other, at Tigray in the north of the country, is owned by American mining giant Newmont, and just started production late last year.

Our field observations and panning suggest that gold should be generally abundant across the Asosa zone – both in quartz veins but also elsewhere in the schist and pegmatite rocks in which they are located. We also see signs of substantial graphite deposits, which are important for everything from touch-screen tablets to lithium-ion batteries. Read More

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About the growing gold mine sector in Tigrai state:

In Addition to the Newmount, the giant American mining company, Ezana Mining an Ethiopian mining company has started producing gold in western Tigrai. Another mining company involved in Tigrai is an Ethio-Canada company; Harvest Plc. Harvest has been issued a large-scale gold and silver mining license by Ethiopian Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas last year also in western Tigrai.

In Tigray there are over 425 legally operating traders involved in the collection and supply of gold to the National Bank of Ethiopia. The National Bank  received 4.9 Billion Br worth in gold from Tigrai state in 2016  The gold collection valued at 4.9 billion Birr, was from 21 districts of the state which are some of the richest in gold and other precious resource.

Until recently Ethiopia had only one large scale gold mine in Lega Dembi, in the southern area of the country, owned by Midroc.