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Australian
mining co. to explore potash
in Ethiopia
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ADDIS
ABEBA(July 23,2008) - An
Australia-based mining company, BHP Billiton Ltd., is set to engage
in exploration of potash in the remote Afar region, a web-based news
agency reported citing an official from the Ministry of Mines and
Energy.
According to the report, the company has already secured a potash-prospecting
license for a 17,000 square-kilometer (6,564 square-miles) area in
Ethiopia's northeastern Afar state, where other similar companies
are operating.
In April last year seven Chinese, including 60 Ethiopians working
for a Chinese mining company were murdered by rebels belonging to
the Ogaden Nationalist Liberation Front (OFNL).
Ethiopia has undertaken to protect the world's largest mining company's
employees against possible attacks by ethnic Afar insurgents or troops
who might attempt to incurse from arch foe Eritrea, Gebre Egziabher,
the director of mineral operations at the ministry told Bloomberg
in an interview in Addis Ababa.
Potash is used in fertilizers and to make cement.
Ethiopia, Africa's biggest coffee producer, is keen to attract investment
into its mining industry in order to diversify its economy.
The country relies on agriculture to generate 47 percent of its output,
according to the World Bank.
The Horn of Africa nation is said to have deposits of gold, platinum,
gemstones and other minerals.
Three Canadian companies and few others are currently engaged in potash-exploration
in the same area, the report said citing Egziabher as saying.
Above all, India's Sainik Finance & Industries Ltd., has the largest
project in the region, winning mining license to begin potash extraction
in the Danakil area.
Sainik will invest $1.1 billion in the project, up from the $500 million
announced in November", the report said quoting the official.
Potash prices may almost double to $900 a metric ton, excluding freight
costs, over the next two to three years amid higher food demand and
limited supplies of the soil nutrient, said Paul Matysek, chief executive
officer of Exploration Company Potash One, at an industry conference
on July 8, the report indicated.
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