Ethiopia

A wide variety of mineral resources can be found in Ethiopia, including development minerals, gemstones, gold, platinum and silver. Because the industrial mining sector has not yet been developed, these deposits are primarily extracted by artisanal and small-scale miners. Estimations of the size of the ASM sector vary significantly, ranging from 450,000¹;operators to 1.25 million.² Most operators work in the gold mining sector, but the production of opal and tantalum is also of significance. Only 6% of the ASM sector is formally organized and licensed.³