Boutique Mining Firm Commissions Processing Plant

Jun 30 , 2024


[ssba-buttons]

Akobo Minerals, a Norway-based gold exploration and mining company, has completed the construction of its processing plant at its boutique mine in South Western Ethiopia.

The company holds an exploration license covering 182 km2 and a 16 km2 mining license in the Segele Shama gold district in the Dima Wereda 720 km southwest of the capital in Gambella Regional State.

Akobo has explored the gold project since 2010 despite completing drilling holes on 59 sites last year. It expects advancements towards low-grade gold processing by next month and forecasts 20 million dollars in revenue in the early months of full production.

The Extraction Industries Transparency Initiative estimates Ethiopia's gold deposits to be around 200tn despite the slow development of industrial gold mining projects.

The National Bank of Ethiopia adjusted its gold procurement strategy two weeks ago to incentivize artisanal miners to resurrect gold exports, which have been dwindling over the past few years. It introduced a tiered pricing system, offering premiums of 60pc on supplies ranging from 50gm to three kilograms and up to 72pc for quantities exceeding 30Kg.


Radar

US Renews National Emergency, Sanctions on Ethiopia

The United States has extended the national emergency and sanctions on Ethiopia for another year under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). Signed by President Donald J. Trump, the measure was first declared on September 17, 2021, through an executive order citing the conflict in northern region of the country as an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The extension, effective until September 17, 2026, keeps in place restrictions targeti...


Radar

Rockefeller Pitches Clean Cooking to Curb School Meal Emissions

A recent study has revealed the staggering environmental toll of school feeding programs. A single school serving 400 students can burn through the equivalent of 56 hectares of forest each year to fuel cooking. The Rockefeller Foundation flagged the health risks too, with most cooks, predominantly women, breathing smoke levels ten times higher than the World Health Organisation's safe limit. "If every school meal transitioned to clean cooking with electricity and solar, the emissions saved wo...


Radar

Sun-Powered Grid Brings Light to Qunbi District

A new 600KW solar mini-grid in East Hararge'sQunbi district has connected 2,200 households to electricity, marking a milestone in the recent rural electrification push. Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) laid seven kilometres of medium-voltage and 10 kilometres of low-voltage lines, installing four transformers to reach communities long cut off from power. Customers cover only meter and installation costs before accessing the service. The project is part of the national strategy to expand energ...