The government issued three mining concessions last week, pushing the total licences it provided this fiscal year to 21, the largest number in the Ministry's history.

The three concessionaires will extract and explore gold, marble and copper in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State with an investment valued at 29.3 million Br and potentially create 57 jobs.

Vintage Exploration & Mining secured extraction licenses, while YFY Mining and Shahi Dahi Mining acquired exploration licenses.

Samuel Urkato (PhD), minister of Mining & Petroleum, signed the agreement with Vintage's general manager, while Assefa Kumsa, the state minister for Mining & Petroleum inked the deal with the representative of YFY and Shahi Dahi Mining at the premises of the Ministry on Asmera Road.

Vintage, an Ethiopian company established five years ago, will extract gold via placer mining techniques for seven years in Benishangul Gumuz Regional State, Metekel zone, in Dangur Wereda. Its exploration plans forecast the extraction of 278.4Kg of gold on 1.1 square kilometres of land.

The company will work with Russian experts and technologies for waste-free production, according to Adele Kassa, general manager of Vintage.

Local production of gold could rise to 30tn a year in the country, according to data from the Geological Survey of Ethiopia.

A two-decade-old Chinese company, YFY Mining, will explore marble at Kamesh Zone, Sedal Wereda, Tinga Kebele.

YFY Mining targets exporting the large quantity of marble to China when it starts extraction, according to Frank Yang, general manager of the company.

Marble is found scattered at different places in the country including Mora, Daletei, Baruda, Parzeite, Manden, and Bulene in Benishangul Gumuz Regional State; in Tigray regional state at Hulkani; and Mentawoha of the Amhara Regional State. Each regional state has over 100tn of marble resources.