The Ministry of Mines & Petroleum has granted mining concessions to six firms. The companies, which are looking to extract gold, marble, bromine and chlorine, have already completed exploration and the concessions were granted following a nod of approval from the Council of Ministers last week. Takele Uma, minister of Mines & Petroleum, inked the agreement with executives of the companies on September 30, 2021. Kurkuk Goldmine Plc, a firm registered in the British Virgin Islands, has obtained a concession to mine for gold on 1,000ht in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State with an initial investment capital of 391 million dollars. It is expected to produce over six tonnes of gold annually. Oromia Mining S.C., a domestic firm, will be extracting gold on 510ht of land in Guji Zone, Oromia Regional State. The company has an initial capital of 147 million Br and aims to extract 84.5Kg of gold annually. Two India-based companies, Kripto Mining & Chemicals Plc and Bhumi Mining Plc, have also received permits to extract marble from Benishangul-Gumuz.