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Gold/Mining/Energy : Mining News of Note -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (44526)	10/6/2009 9:50:49 AM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 195650

Australia's Gippsland wins Eritrea mining licences miningweekly.com By: Reuters 5th October 2009 ASMARA – Australian mining company Gippsland said on Monday its subsidiary Nubian Resources had been granted three new prospecting licences in northwestern Eritrea. More than a dozen companies are now exploring or about to explore in the Red Sea state, which is seen on the cusp of a minerals boom that could kickstart its needy economy. Gold, copper, zinc and potash are the main interests. "The company now holds licences totalling 300 km2 in a region that has had minimal previous exploration but has the potential to host high grade gold and base metal deposits," Gippsland said in a statement. "The licenses of 100 km2 each are located between 203 km and 247 km north of the Eritrea capital Asmara." The company will begin sampling in the next two months in the remote Adobha region, near the border with Sudan. Much hope is pinned on the potential of the mineral sector in Eritrea, whose agriculture-based economy has suffered from irregular rainfall and the global economic crisis. Apart from small-scale artisan mining and some minor extraction by Italians during the colonial era, Eritrea's mining potential is unexploited. Some bigger miners were scared off by the 1998 to 2000 border war with Ethiopia. Eritrea's most advanced project, run by Canada's Nevsun Resources with a 40% stake for the state, is Bisha. Its 27-million tons of ore are believed to contain one-million ounces of gold, 700-million pounds to 800-million pounds of copper and one-billion pounds of zinc. Production is expected by late 2010. Foreign miners agree on the potential, but Eritrea insists the sector must be developed slowly and carefully to avoid the so-called "resources curse" of corruption and violence seen elsewhere in Africa.