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(Adds Kefi comment on Tulu Kapi)
Dec 15 (Reuters) - Ethiopia has revoked the mining licences
of 63 companies due to breach of contract, the mines minister
said on Tuesday without providing any names.
The mining companies whose licences were revoked were said
to have breached contract rules, failed to renew their licences,
or not made royalty payments, Mines Minister Takele Uma said,
confirming an earlier report by state-affiliated broadcaster
Fana.
Some of the companies have also been producing below
standard, the ministry said, according to the report.
Uma said the list of licences and companies concerned would
be released online soon.
Reuters was not immediately able to establish which
companies were involved or to contact them.
Ethiopia has been seeking to bring foreign companies in to
develop its mining sector. The country has deposits of minerals
and metals including gold, copper, and potash - which is used to
make fertilizer.
Norwegian fertilizer company Yara, London-listed
exploration firm Kefi Gold and Copper, and U.S. gold
miner Newmont are among the companies with projects in
Ethiopia.
Kefi Gold and Copper CEO Harry Anagnostaras-Adams said the
company's Tulu Kapi gold project is not among those whose
licences were revoked.
"It doesn't affect us," he told Reuters over the phone.
Tulu Kapi, in the country's west, is set to start production
in end-2022, producing 160,000 ounces of gold a year in its
first year.
(Reporting by Helen Reid, Editing by Jon Boyle, Louise Heavens
and Giles Elgood)
