Ethiopia’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum Tuesday said it has revoked licenses of 63 international mining companies due to breach of contract.
The mining companies whose licences were revoked were said to have breached contract rules, failed to renew their licences, or not made royalty payments, the Ministry said on Tuesday in a statement.
According to the ministry, the companies were also blamed for producing substandard products.
Out of the total penalized enterprises, 38 have been engaged in mineral extraction and production while the remaining 25 are mining researchers.
While briefing the media on job performances of the ministry, Mines and Petroleum Minister, Engineer Takele Uma also said that the country has earned more than $302 Million in mining exports over the last five months.
The country exported 4,083 Kg of gold and precious stones to international markets to earn the income stated, the minister noted.
MG/abj/APA