The Mining Operations Proclamation No. 678/2010 is further amended by Proclamation No. 1213/2020 which has come into effect as of 14th July 2020.
This amendment has added two more situations in which no license may be granted or held in addition to the existing three, which are listed out by Article 11 (3) of Proclamation No. 678/2010. The new additions are: a non-citizen of Ethiopia will not be granted a license where such a person wishes to engage in “construction minerals excluding those used as raw materials and dimension stones such as sand, aggregate, selected materials, and others”. Similarly, a foreign investor who would like to engage in any placer mining operations is prohibited from obtaining or holding a license except where such a foreign investor “engage in large scale placer mining in partnership with a domestic investor holding a minimum of 25% share”.
The amendment has deleted Article 51 of Proclamation No. 678/2010, which deals with “Rights and Obligations of the Holder of a Certificate of Professional Competence” and has replaced it with new provisions. Accordingly, the amended Article 51 (1) allows any Ethiopians or Foreign Nationals of Ethiopian Origin to engage in the provision of consultancy services in the mining sector, where they obtain the required competence certificate from the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum. Articles 51 (2) and (3) of the amendment allows any person (irrespective of their nationality) to engage in the mining sector for the provision of “technical services such as drilling, laboratory or residue stockpile separating services” and in the provision of “technical services in fieldwork such as health, camping, and catering services.”
Finally, Article 82 of the amendment has added one provision in which it is provided so as “a mining license or mining agreement issued to a foreign investor or concluded with a foreign investor to mine construction minerals excluding those used as raw material and dimension stones such as sand, aggregate, selected materials, and others, including placer mining operation prior to the coming into effect of this [amendment] Proclamation to continue in force for the remaining period of their validity”. After the end of their validity period whether these licenses or the mining agreement will be renewed for a further period or not is to be treated as per the terms and conditions of Proclamation No. 1213/2020.
Please see the attached Proclamation No. 1213/2020 for further details.
Posted on November 16th, 2020
| File | Description | File size |
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 Mining Operations (Amendment) Proclamation No. 1213_2020.pdf | 1490 kB |