Two international companies named, Minelab Electronics and SK Mining Equipment has formed a joint venture to assemble small-scale gold mining machines in Ethiopia, according to the Daily Monitor.
Dubai-based company, SK Mining and Australian-based Minelab, have inaugurated their plant on Tuesday, December 1, 2015. Senior government officials from the Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas, President of Minelab Company and other officials have attended the Company’s inaugural ceremony.
Their company has already launched assembling imported parts of the machine from abroad in Addis Ababa.
The firm is the first small scale gold mining machines assembler in Ethiopia and in East Africa region.
The firm plans to boost its production and capital from the initial capital of 20 million Birr (one million USD) to seven million USD in the coming three years.
Such factories are said to be attracted in nations like Ethiopia due to high number of artisanal gold miners who usually do their job traditional ways and whose production per year is bigger than the big gold mining companies in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia Badacha, spokesperson for Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas told The Daily Monitor, that these kinds of gold mining equipment are not readily available for local artisanal and small-scale miners in Ethiopia because of the nature of their cost and availability.
He also said: “The newly established plant that started its gold mining equipment assembling debut locally, is cost effective and (their products are) easy to operate than what is currently in market.”
The cost of these machines will reduce by half, once the company makes its products available to the miners, he furthered.
[www.monitor.co.ug/]