(Adds Newmont comment)
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 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 would be
released online soon.
Reuters was unable immediately to establish which companies
were involved or 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.
"We are not affected by this announcement," Newmont
spokeswoman Courtney Boone said.
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 said by phone.
Tulu Kapi, in the country's west, is set to start production
in end-2022, with 160,000 ounces of gold a year in its first
year.
(Reporting by Helen Reid; additional reporting by Jeff Lewis in
Toronto; Editing by Jon Boyle, Louise Heavens, Giles Elgood and
Richard Chang)