MINERAL POTENTIAL OF
THE STATE OF ERITREAY E A R LY B R O C U R E
OF ERITREAN
MINERAL SECTOR

2008- Facts on Eritrea- A word from His Exellency the
Minister of Energy and mines- About the Department of Mines- Highlights of 2007-2008- Mining Law- Geology of Eritrea- Mineral potential of Eritrea- Future investment opportunitiesTesfai Ghebreselassie
Minister of Energy and Mines

Dear investors

in abundance.

I have the great honour and pleasure to bring for yourconsideration the investment opportunities that mycountry Eritrea offers in the minerals sector.

The Government of the State of Eritrea is aware of
the crucial role the private sector can play in the discovery and development of mineral resources. The
mining law and policies of Eritrea provide an attractive legal and economic environment for investors:
by setting out a number of incentives, including low
royalties of two to five percent (with the option for
their reduction, suspension or waiver) and a nominal
half percent duty on imported capital goods. The
holder of a mineral license is guaranteed the right todispose of minerals without export tax, and to therepatriation of after-tax profits without restriction.
The law also permits financial losses to be charged
against gross income and to be carried forward. In
addition, the Eritrean mining law provides simple
procedures for the submission and processing oflicense applications.

Artisanal gold mining in Eritrea can be traced back toancient times: even today it is commonly practiced inwestern Eritrea. Modern mining however only started
during the Italian rule in the late twenties of the lastcentury, when the Italian colonisers developed morethan twenty small gold mines. The development of
the mining industry was interrupted at an early stage,at the end of 1940’s. Since then, the political andsecurity conditions necessary for the developmentof the industry did not prevail in Eritrea, until thecountry’s independence in 1991.

Until now, several exploration companies have beensuccessfully operating in Eritrea. The recent announcements made by these companies have demonstrated I take this opportunity to extend a personal invitation
the extraordinary potential that Eritrea holds for to all investors to share in the pleasure and privilege
major mineral discoveries.
of developing a cordial business partnership with
us in mineral prospecting and development. The
This brochure aims to acquaint you with the general participation of international private investment ingeology, known types and areas of mineralisation, the minerals sector is more than welcome. The proand the investment opportunities and environment spective geology, attractive investment conditions,of Eritrea. Brief mention is also made of the aggres- political stability and the friendly and industrious
sive exploration activities of several foreign compa- people of Eritrea combine to create a rare investment
nies, and some of their exciting achievements. There opportunity.
are plenty of occurrences that suggest the potential
for the discovery of economic deposits of precious
and base metals. A variety of industrial minerals andTesfai Ghebreselassie
good quality construction materials are also available
Minister of Energy and MinesMineral potential of Eritrea

A highly prospective country Location, climate, geography
and infrastructure
Eritrea joined the world community of independent
states in May 1993 following a thirty year war for
liberaon which ended in May 1991. A UN supervised referendum held in April 1993 enabled theEritrean people to state unequivocally to the world
their strong choice for freedom and independence.
Aware of the signiﬁcant and vital role the private
sector has to play in the achievement of naonal
development objecves, the Government of Eritrea
has been commied to create a conducive atmosphere for the acve parcipaon of local and foreign private investors. However, since May 1998 thedevelopment of this young state has been severely
curtailed by the border dispute with neighbouring Ethiopia. Despite this, the Eritrean people andGovernment are as resolute as ever in their commitment and endeavours to work together to rebuild
their country’s economy, and to secure social andeconomic progress.

This young state is located in the north-eastern part ofAfrica with the Red Sea on its east coast, Sudan to the west
and north, and Ethiopia and Djibou to the south. Eritrea,
with a land surface area of about 125,000 square
kilometres, including hundreds of coral islands in the Red
Sea, has a populaon of about three and a half million
people. The country is home to nine ethnic groups, all witha strong sense of Eritrean naonal unity. Tigrinya and Tigre
arethe most widely spoken indigenous languages. English
is commonly used in the business community, while Arabic
and Italian are also frequently encountered.
The topography of Eritrea is exceponally varied, from the
1,200 kilometre long coastal plain only a few metres above
sea level, through the central highlands ranging up to 2,500
metres above sea level, to the low lying western and south
western areas of the country. Rugged mountain chains
run from the central plateau to the extreme north of thecountry. The climate in these diﬀerent terrains correspondingly varies from arid, to semi-arid, to temperate. The meanannual rainfall in the coastal areas is less than 300 mm peryear, whilst in the highlands and the western lowlands
rainfall ranges between 500 and 1,000 mm.
3Mineral potential of Eritrea

Eritrea’s infrastructure is centered on a well developed
communicaons network linking the capital city Asmara to
the regions of the country, including the two main sea portsof Massawa and Assab, and to the neighbouring countries.
Asmara and Massawa have internaonal airports, which
also serve internal ﬂights. Inevitably, the ravages of war
have le their mark on the infrastructure, and the reconstrucon of the prime facilies has been a high priority.
Telecommunicaon facilies have also been renovated anddeveloped, and mobile phones are now a common site in
the major towns.

geological database of the country. As part of its
roune works, the Department of Mines throughthe Mines Administraon Division issues licenses toarsanal miners, and controls and supervises exploraon and mining acvies so that they are in linewith the direcves of the Ministry and are environmentally compliant. In addion, the Department ofMines, through its research wing – the Geological
Survey – has been working, together with various
foreign governmental aid agencies and internaonalorganizaons, to carry out geological mapping andmineral exploraon.
Highlights of 2007-2008

The Department of Mines
The Ministry of Energy and Mines is the authorised
Licensing Agency and is responsible for the administraon, regulaonand coordinaon of all typesof mining operaons in Eritrea. The Department ofMines within the Ministry encompasses, amongst
other funcons, the Geological Survey and theMines Administraon Division, and is also itself acvely engaged in exploraon and mapping acvies.
Even though there are several maps producedon diﬀerent scales from various sources, there
have been only two geological maps, at a scale of
1:250,000, compiled unl recently, when the Eritrean Geological Survey prepared a 1:1,000,000 scalemap.
The Eritrean mining sector has shown rapid development over the past few years since the Ministryof Energy and Mines started issuing licenses in 1997.
Since then, several exploraon companies havebeen involved in assessing and exploring the mineralpotenal of the country. In the successive years addional licenses have been issued on the ﬁrst-comeﬁrst-served principle. The Department of Mines
has also been developing a naonal minerals database.
The Ministry has a responsibility to provide preliminary informaon to exploraon companies interested in conducng detailed invesgaons in Eritrea,
and to make a contribuon towards enriching the

The years 2007 and 2008 were high mes in themineral sector. In the past two years the major highlights were:- In 2007 Eritrean Naonal Mining Corporaon(ENAMCO) was established. This corporaon wasestablished with a major objecve of exercising theGovernment’s free and purchased equity in mining. It is an independent body from the Ministry ofEnergy and Mines and its establishment enables the
Ministry to concentrate on regulang acvies.
- Establishement of Bisha Mining Share Company.
This share company was formed in 2007 between
Nevsun (60%) and ENAMCO owns 40% of the total
share.
- The ﬁrst Mining Agreement between the Government and Bisha Mining Sh. Co. was signed in 2007.
This is the ﬁrst of its type and involved many processes including negoaon. Following the signing,a mining permit was issued to the share company.
- Another important event in 2007 was the transfer of exploraon license from Sub-Sahara Resources to Sunridge Gold Corp. In the last few years
Sub-Sahara and Sunridgegold were working as joint
partners in the Asmara property that include threelicense areas (Debarwa, Medrizien and Adi Nefas).
Upon the agreement between the two companies
the transfer of the exploraon rights of the Asmara
property from Sub-Sahara to Sunridge was approvedby the Government of Eritrea at the end of 2007.
4

Mineral potential of Eritrea- Two new exploraon licenses were also issued
to two companies. Eritrea-China mining and Exploraon company was granted a license in the south
western part of Eritrea around Augaro. While another Chinese company, Beijing Donia was granted
exploraon license at the central part of Eritrea
located north of Sunridgegold’s Asmara property.
- At the beginning of 2008 a mining permit (license) was issued to Bisha Mining Share Company
that allowed the company to develop the Bisha
deposit.
- In the last two years diﬀerent exploraon companies from various countries showed interest on
the mineral potenal of Eritrea. Consequently there
were a number of visits to diﬀerent parts of thecountry by experts from diﬀerent countries, including South Africa, India, Pakistan, Japan, Australia
and UK. All of the visits were escorted and guided
by the Department of Mines staﬀ. Evaluaon of theapplicaons on diﬀerent prospects is underway andlicenses will be granted soon.
- A proposal is being made and approved for theconnuaon of the geothermal study in Alid. According to the approved proposal the Geological
Survey of Iceland and the Eritrean Geological Survey
will, in collaboraon, conduct exploraon works at
Alid which will lead to the recommendaon of drilling in the prospect.
- The ﬁrst dra Regional Geological Map of Eritrea, on 1:1,000,000 scale is ﬁnalized and is on theprocess of distribuon. In addion other geologicalmaps on 1:250,000 scale were also produced on
speciﬁc areas.

Mining law
The legal framework governing the conduct of allmining and related operaons within the territoryof Eritrea is embodied in a Mining Law comprising:Minerals Proclamaon No 68/1995, Mining Income
Tax Proclamaon No. 69/1995 and Regulaons on
Mining Operaons Legal Noce No. 19/1995, all ofwhich were promulgated in March 1995.
Key Policy issues upon which the Mining Law isbased include:• All mineral resources in Eritrea are public property. TheState has a duty to ensure the conservaonand sustainable development of these resources forthe beneﬁt of the people;• The intenon is to create a favourable atmosphere for foreign investment in the mining sector.
Due recognion is made of the signiﬁcant role that
foreign investment and skills can play in the development of this sector and the capital intensive, longterm, and risky nature of mining investments;• The necessity for formulang regulaons which
ensure protecon of the natural environment, together with sustainable development of the country’s mineral resources, in accordance with soundprinciples of resource management and land use;
The Eritrean Mining Law is up-to-date, aracve
and compeve, as it provides considerable beneﬁts and incenves to investors. For example, thelaw provides for:
• The right to exploit any commercial discoveries
made pursuant to a valid exploraon license;• The right to sell locally or export, free of all dues
and taxes and without being required to obtain any
other authorisaon or permission from any other
Government agency, all minerals produced pursuant
to a mining license;• A simple and fair taxaon system which recognises the risky nature of mining investments, andhence allows:* Accelerated depreciaon (straight line
method over 4 years) of all capitaland preproducon costs;* Write-oﬀs of exploraon expenditure incurred anywhere in the country;* The carrying forward of losses;* A generous reinvestment deducon (5% ofgross income);* No dividend tax* A nominal rate of import duty (0,5%) on all
inputs necessary for mining operaons;5

Mineral potential of Eritrea* Normal royalty rates as well as an opon
for the reducon, suspension or waiver ofthe royalty in appropriate circumstances;• Equitable foreign exchange regulaons permit

ng;* Free and unrestricted repatriaon of earnings;
* Retenon of a poron of foreign currency
earnings abroad in external accounts;* Maintenance of foreign currency accounts
in banks in Eritrea.
• A simple “one-stop” licensing system enabling
all the formalies for all types of licenses for mining
operaons to be completed by a single Government
agency - the Department of Mines with the Ministryof Energy and Mines.

The mineral licensing system
The Mining Law permits the following types oflicenses:• Prospecng License, valid for one year and nonre-

newable;• Exploraon License, valid for an inial period of
three years, but which may be renewed twice foraddional terms of one year each, with an oponfor further renewals in appropriate circumstances;and• Mining License, valid for a period of 20 years with
oponal 10-year renewals.
All of these licenses are exclusive and grant theirholders an automac right to obtain an Exploraon License from within a Prospecng License
and a Mining License from an Exploraon License,
subject to the fulﬁllment of the obligaons under
the preceding license. Although the maximum areathat a single license can cover is ﬁxed at 100km2
for a Prospecng License, 50 km2 for an Exploraon
License and 10km2 for a Mining License, simultaneous possession of mulple conguous licenses ispermied.
Applicaons for any of these licenses may be madeby individuals or legal enes of any naonality. Allapplicaons are to be made on speciﬁed forms thatcan be obtained from the Department of Minesof the Ministry of Energy and Mines and must be
accompanied by a nonrefundable processing (reg6Mineral potential of Eritrea
istraon) fee of US$1 per page of each applicaon
and the supporng documentaon presented. Successful applicants are also subject to a payment oflicense fees and the ﬁrst year’s rental upon the issue
of a license. The rate of these fees is governed byRegulaon and is at present as follows:

Prospecting

License Fee(per license)
US$(approx.)
80

Annual rentals(per km2)
US$(approx.)
8

Exploration

240

32

Mining960

96

License7

Mineral potential of Eritrea

The Geology of Eritrea
The geological set up of Eritrea is made up of Precambrian basement rocks that are overlain unconformably by predominantly Mesozoic sedimentaryrocks and Terary to Quaternary volcanic and sedimentary rocks.

Precambrian Basement Rocks
Basement rocks in Eritrea cover more than 60% of
the surface of the country. The basement rocks ofEritrea are part of the Arabian Nubian Shield (ANS)
which are exposed in north east Africa (Egypt,
Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia) and in Saudi Arabia,
northern and northwestern parts of Yemen and partof the western Middle East.
The shield is believed to represent a mega suture
between East and West Gondwana. Archean andPaleoproterozoic connental crust rocks make theolder components of the shield and occupy a verysmall part of the basement rocks and the majorpart of the shield consists of Neoproterozoic (c. 870670 Ma)
connental-marginal and juvenile intraoceanic magmac-arc rocks.
In Eritrea, the basement rocks are not well studied
despite their high mineral potenal. There are only
two geological maps (1:250,000) prepared in thelast decade. That which covers the western partof the country (Geology of Gash River Area) andthat which covers the southern part of the country(Geology of Mai Dima/Kohain Area). Compilaon ofgeologic maps at 1:250,000 scale has recently been
completed for four map sheets. Other study, basedlargely on satellite image interpretaon aided bylimited ground controls, suggest that the rocks canbe subdivided into four tectonic blocks or segments,
separated by tectonic boundaries. Three of theseblocks, the western, central and eastern segments,
underlienorthern and central Eritrea, whilst the
fourth, the Danakil segment, occurs in the southeastern part of the country.

The western segment, the Barka Terrain - is exposedin thenorthwestern part of the country and underlies the Barka lowlands. It is made up of amphibolite, amphibolite-facies polic schists containing
kyanite and staurolite, quartzites and marble.
The central segment, referred to as the Hagar
Terrain,extends from the Barka River up to the
Adobha Abi valley inthe east, and comprises several
large ellipcal bodies of various tectonic units thatare dominantly composed of oceanic and accreonary wedge materials. Occasionally, layered sequences of chloric schists are seen, inter-layered withepidoc and chloric metabasalts, occasional thinand disconnuous marbles, and manganiferous andferruginous cherts. The Hagar Terrain displays aneast verging thrust contact with the adjacentsegment to the east. The Hagar Terrain is known tobe prospecve for chromite, planum group elements, nickel, gold and copper mineralizaon.
The eastern segment- the Nakfa Terrain - is boundedby the Adobha Abi valley in the west and by the Red
Sea escarpment to the east. It is made up of calc-alkaline volcanic and volcanoclasc rocks conformably
overlain by a metasedimentary sequence of chlorite
schists, grits and polymict conglomerates with occasional pelic sericite schists and carbonates. The
metavolcanic rocks are intruded by variably deformed plutonic to hypabyssal calc-alkaline
bodies. The sequence is cut in places by post-kinemac granites and gabbros and is also transectedby several narrow shear zones sub- parallel to theregional strike. The Nakfa Terrain is considered torepresent a relict island arc assemblage. Several
VMS (Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide) base metal
occurrences and gold showings are associated withthis tectonic unit.
The southern segment - The Danakil Terrain - iscomposed of metamorphic rocks which may begrouped into three formaons:(1) migmac hornblende biote gneisses;(2)a phyllic formaon consisng of schists, conglomeracphyllites, crystalline limestones, andgraphic schists; and(3) post-tectonic granitoids.
8

Mineral potential of Eritrea

9Mineral potential of Eritrea
Recently compiled geologic map of the whole country at 1:1,000,000 scale has divided the Precambrianbasement rocks into 7 domains, 5 groups and 3
formaons. It is rather a more detailed presentaonof the rocks units of the country.

Mesozoic Sediments
The lower Mesozoic sediments are represented by
the Merbet (Adigrat) Sandstone which outcrops inthe southern part of the country and in the Danakil
area, and is commonly intercalated with siltstones
and haemac layers. It lies unconformably overthin layers of conglomerac sandstones which, inplaces, appear to have the characteriscs of a glacial
deposit. Overlying the sandstone is the Jurassic
Adailo (Antalo) Limestone. This unit is exposed overa large area in the Danakil and is made up of limestones that are compact, partly shelly, fossiliferous
and layered. Alternaons of quartzic layers arepresent in the lower part, whilst towards the upper
part the sequence becomes mainly gypsiferous todolomic. The Upper Sandstone forms pockets ofsandstones that have been preserved from erosion. Commonly this sandstone is medium to coarse
grained, light coloured, and dominantly quartzicbut partly conglomerac.

Tertiary Volcanics and Sediments
The Terary volcanics can be divided into threeunits:(1) the plateau-forming Terary basalts that are
predominantly olivine basalts with intercalaons ofintermediate lavas and tuﬀs;(2) the lower Afar straﬁed basalts composed ofbasalc lava ﬂows and tuﬀs that are usually foundintercalated with sediments of the Danakil Formaon; and(3) the Afar Basalts composed of recent lava ﬂows
and volcanic cones, with minor acid to intermediate
volcanics, mainly trachytes, rhyolites and ignimbrites. The Terary basalts are currently acvely
exploited for aggregates.

The Tertiary Sediments
The Terary sediments lie along the Ri escarpment
and in central Afar. Three sedimentary formaons
have been idenﬁed: the Danakil, Dogali and Desset Formaons. The Danakil and Dogali Formaons
are of late Terary age and are composed mainly of
limestones intercalated with conglomerac sandstones and siltstones. They are overlain by calcareous sands with coral reefs, partly consisng ofpebbles of volcanic origin, and gravels with sand, silt
and clay horizons. The Desset Formaon comprises
sandstones, clays and ﬁne beds of anhydrite and halite unconformably overlying the Dogali formaon in
the northern part of the coast, while the Red Series
containing coarse clasc fresh water sediments occupies the southern part of the coast.

Quaternary Sediments
A thick evaporic formaon of bedded halite, gypsum, anhydrite, potassium and magnesium salts,
with shell material ﬁlls the basin in the Danakil Depression. Deposits of sheelood terraces, silt, sandand gravel are present in some locaons occasionally covered by windblown sands. Basalc ﬂows andrelated spaer cones represent Quaternary volcanicacvity in the Danakil region.

Mineral potential of Eritrea
Eritrea has a long mining history that stretches
back to Biblical mes. Gold producon in Eritrea
was recorded in the mes of the Pharaohs of the
Fourth Dynasty, and later gold mining during thePortuguese occupaon in the seventeenth century
is also well recorded. Further evidence of the workof ancient miners is found in several places in the
country, indicang that mining operaons were acve in Eritrea long before colonial mes.
Modern mining, however, began at the beginning of
the 20th century following the Italian colonizaonof the country. Following the Second World War,mining and related operaons connued through10

Mineral potential of Eritrea

out the country, although intermiently. In the earlysevenes this resulted in the development of theshort-lived modern mine at Debarwa, before theindependence struggle forced its closure.
Recent re-evaluaon of the available records onthese early operaons strongly indicates that these
operaons were generally unsystemac and poorly
documented. The technology and exploraon methods employed at the me, as well as the understanding of styles of mineralizaon have now beensuperseded. It can be expected that more mupto-date technology and exploraon methods willlead to the idenﬁcaon of previously unsuspectedstyles of mineralizaon , and it is also possible thatknown deposits previously regarded as uneconomic
may prove to be economically viably with today’s
technology.
Eritrea has now emerged as a demonstrated potenal to host signiﬁcant VMS deposits aer the discovery of Bisha, Harena, and Hambok Massive sulphide
deposits in the western lowlands and koken in thenorthwestern lowland. Zara shear-hosted gold andthe recent ﬁnings in Harab Suit and Seroa prospects.
Moreover, more ﬁndings such as the Embaderho
deposit, in the VMS belt of Asmara/Debarwa area,
which includes Debarwa , Adi Nefas and Kena andmany other small prospects has made the country
to be known in such type of mineralizaon.
Presence of a great potenal for shear hosted gold
deposits is also demonstrated from the recent,shear hosted gold discovery in Zara. Here, an exploraon work was conducted over a small area,
situated along a major shear zone that runs acrossthe country. Eritrea is not well explored although
there are many prospecve grounds waing to bediscovered.
It has a geological seng that is favourable for bothprecious metals and base metal mineralizaon, as
well as for industrial minerals. The range of idenﬁed potenal deposits covers gold and other precious metals, polymetallic and several base metals
hosted in both massive sulphide types and quartz
vein and quartz stockwork type of deposits. Thereis an indicaon of the occurrences Ni and chromite

showings associated to the ultrabasic rocks in the
far north of the country. Occurrences of potash andsulphur evaporates in the Danakil depression, and avariety of construcon materials, including marble,
granite and others in several parts of the country iswell known.

Gold
Recent exploraon acvies have shown that gold
occurrences Is very widespread in many part of thecountry and that the country has great potenal in
gold. In addion to the previously known areas ofprimary gold occurrence in the central highland(which includes the Hamasien gold ﬁeld), those of
Shillalo (in southwestern lowlands) area, and thoseof southern Eritrea, exploraon acvity in the last
decade has shown the presence of economic gold
deposits in the western lowlands and also in thenorthern part of the country. Among these are gold
along with basemetals in Bisha, and gold showings
in Haykota area, southeast of Tesseney areas and innorthern Eritrea(Zara).
The average head grades in most of the historic veingold mines that were acve during the Italian colonial me up to the late 1950s, were reported to beas high as 25 - 45 g/t, withreasonably good recoveries.
Eritrea’s gold mineralizaon is usually hosted inquartz veins and stockworks, and in parcular inshear zones associated with felsic volcanic rocks,
dioric intrusions and in various schists that are
frequently sub-parallel to the strike of the pronounced cleavage of the host rocks. Occurrencesof gold within exhalave VMS deposits, and in theweathered and supergene zones overlying them,
are becoming more evident with recent addional
discoveries of gold in Debarwa and Adi Nefas (in thecentral highlands), and at Bisha and Harena (in thewestern lowlands).

Base Metal Deposits
NNW to NNE-trending belt of gossans, exhalavecherts and Altered felsic rocks that are indicators
11

Mineral potential of Eritrea
of massive sulphide mineralizaon are recoded inmany parts of Eritrea. The ores of these massive sulphide deposits are predominantly chalcocite, pyrite
with minor amounts of sphalerite, chalcopyrite andbornite. A major belt of massive sulphide depositwith gold and base metal mineralizaon passes
through Asmara and includes Debarwa, Adi Nefas,
Embaderho and many other localies roughly within
a 50 km wide belt over a strike length of 250 km,
extending for more than 50 km north of Asmara andupto the Eritrean border to the south.
A belt that includes the Bisha VMS and Harena VMS
in the Western Low lands has already shown thepresence of world class deposit and is also under
exploraon for more deposits. There are belt of
VMS indicaons farther nnorth of Kerkebet, Harabuit and possibly surrounding areas. There is a beltof copper mineralizaon in Raba-Semait area, sulphide-rich gossanous rock in Mt Tullului(Bedeho) in
Sahel, northern Eritrea and in Mt Seccar and Sheib
areas in the Easter Low Lands.
At Bisha, a world class deposit of precious andbase metal VMS deposit has been found. Recent
exploraon work in Adi Nefas VMS shows 9.0
metres grading 11.91 g/t Au, 285 g/t Ag, 3.18% Cu
and 11.05% Zn and in another test drill NG-043-D– 5.25 metres grading 10.81 g/t Au, 239.8 g/t Ag,
6.77 % Cu and 6.77% Zn has been obtained. Reserveesmaon made recently has shown that minablezinc, copper and associated gold is present in Adi
Nefas.
Embaderho is now emerging as a large 51 Mtonebase metals, Cu-Zn deposit with some associatedgold. Resource esmaon is sll going on, howeverat this stage it is conﬁrmed that is big base metal
deposit.
This all shows that the country is not well explored
and that it has excellent potenal for the discovery
of major base metal deposits.

Industrial Minerals
Potash, sylvite and gypsum-bearing evaporates oc-

cur at Colluli, south of Bada. Substanal deposit of
the laer are found at Desset area, north-west of
Massawa. Large deposits of common salt also occur
at several places along the Red Sea coast.
Considerable quanes of high quality silica arefound at Merbet, which has been exploited for glass
manufacture. In addion, deposits of silica sandwith feldspar occur at various wadis of Eritrea. Highpurity feldspars occur in pegmates at Lahazen,
35 kms south of Massawa. Sub economic deposits
of mica, which was once exported by the Italians,
are found south east of Lahazien. Large depositsof kaolin occur in the lateric horizon in parts of
Teraimni, at Adi Koteio close to Adi Kwala, Adi Keih,
Zeghib, Adi Hawusha, Adi Ahderom and west andsouth-west areas of Himbir.
Extensive deposits of the raw materials for cement
manufacture are found at Adailo, close to Tio withall the constuents including limestone, marl, clay
and gypsum occurring close together.
Barite occurrences have been idenﬁed around theHeneb, Meter and Gharsa wadis to the north westof Mersa Gulbub. Barite veins also occur associatedwith faults in the sediments of the Dogali and Desset Formaons. Other barite deposits of economic
signiﬁcance, with reported grades of 95-97% are
known to exist at Debarwa and Kena. Gypsum deposits are also found in the Desset plains.

Construction Materials
Large deposits of marble occur as belts running
north-northeast including in the Gogne area extending from Gogne to Goranda, and in the Adobha area.
Other signiﬁcant marble deposits occur at Aimbol,
Amberbeb, and Mt Kuruku (in the upper valley ofBarka). The Kertse-Komte and Debri black and graymarble deposits occur south of Decamhare andhave been exploited for a long me. Recrystallised
limestone deposits with variegated colours occur at
Dichinema area, in the southwest of Eritrea.
Granites of various colours and textures are exposedover large areas. Granites of dimension stone qualies, and which are currently being exploited, occur
12Mineral potential of Eritrea
at Geleb (pink granite), and in the Arato, Korbaria,
and Tukul areas (grey granite). The Mai mine granite
and Elabered granite are also suitable candidates for
dimension stone.
A narrow outcrop of coral limestone extends along
the coast from the headland of Ras Kassar to thecoastline of Tio. Immense deposits of limestone
occur in the Adailo-Atosh area south west of Tio. A
narrow outcrop of coral limestone extends northwards parallel to the coast from Massawa up to theheadland of Ras Kassar.

Geothermal acvity, evidenced by fumaroles andhot springs with extensive alteraon of the ground,
are abundant in the Alid geothermal ﬁeld. Studies carried out so far in this area indicate that thepresence of a possible sub-surface high temperature
reservoir. The geothermal manifestaons at Nebroand Dubbi are also promising, but further study will
be required to esmate the reservoir temperature.

Geothermal Potential
The possibility of the economic exploitaon of thegeothermal potenal for power generaon occurs
in the ri area, associated with volcanic acvity.

Alid, Nebro, and Dubi are the main target locaons
where geothermal acvity is known to be intensive.
Lower temperature acvity also occurs at Mai Wuui,
30 kms west of Massawa.
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Mineral potential of Eritrea

14

Mineral potential of Eritrea

15

Mineral potential of Eritrea

CURRENT LICENSES STATUS• Copper (Years 6 to 11)

20,000 tonnes

Sunridgegold Corp (Eritrea)
Currently there are six companies who are acvein Eritrea. These companies are Bisha Mining Sh.
Co., Sub-Sahara Resources (Eritrea), SunridgeGold(Eritrea), Sanu Resources, Eritrea-China Sh. Co. andBeijing Donia. The spaal distribuon of their properes include Central, Western, South western andNorthern Eritrea.

Bisha Mining Share Company
Following the issue of Mining agreement, Bisha
Mining Share Company has started civil works construcon in Bisha. With all perming requirements
long in place and much of the detailed design work
completed the project is well advanced. Construcon of housing and infrastructure for around 450
people has already started. Heavy earthmoving forthe main process plant will begin shortly. Much of
the machinery and equipment for the Project has
already been procured, including the main grinding
mills. Mining will commence mid-2009 and the Process plant will be delivering gold in the ﬁrst quarterof 2010 aer a capital expenditure of around US$
250 million.
Producon will be:• Gold (Years1&2)• Copper (Years 3 to 5)• Copper (Years 6 to 11)

400+ thousand ounces
per year
78,000 tonnes
120,000 tonnes

Sunridgegold Corp (Eritrea) is currently working on
its Asmara properes that consists of three licenses
that surround the capital city of Asmara namely Debarwa, Adi Nefas and Medrizien. Extensive exploraon program including ground geophysics, geological mapping, geochemical surveys and drilling are
underway on all the properes.
Environemntal baseline studies have already been
started a Scoping study on the large newly discovered copper-zinc-gold Emba Derho VMS deposit inunderway which is expected to be compeleted in
October 2008. As part of this study in July 2008 a
scoping study workshop was given to government
oﬃcials and experts from diﬀerent ministries. Prior
to this, public consultaons were conducted to various villages and this is sll ongoing.

Sub-Sahara Resources (Eritrea)
Sub-Sahara has been acvely exploring in
Eritrea for the past eight years. The inialproperes that Sub Sahara secured contained the volcanogenic massive sulphide(VMS) prospects surrounding the capital
city of Asmara. The Debarwa Cu/Zn/Au/Ag
deposit was successfully advanced to a
‘Scoping Study’ for mining before the enre land package was sold to joint venture
partner Sunridge Gold Corp in 2007. During 2007, Sub Sahara accelerated exploraon acvies on its Zara Gold Project (inthe north-west of the country) and was
rewarded with deﬁnion of a +1moz gold
deposit (Koka) grading 6.31g/t, in early 2008. The
Koka Gold Deposit is now in development for mining
through a Pre-Feasibility Study.
Work to date at the Zara Project includes over
17,000m of diamond drilling, independent resourceesmates by Coﬀey consultaon ﬁrm, metallurgicaldrilling and test-work, structural studies with fol16

Mineral potential of Eritrea
low-up drilling, petrographic studies, aquifer development, an environmental baseline study, groundbased chargeability and resisvity geophysical surveys, regional geochemical sampling programmes
and high resoluon digital terrain modelling.

Sanu Resources
Sanu conducted 518 m diamond drilling and geophysical survey on its newly discovered massive sulﬁde gossan trend in the Koken area of its Kerkebet
River exploraon license. This area is 85km north
Sanu’s Hambok discovery and appears to be an enrely new district. The mulple gossan occurrences
crop out over a strike length of 4.5km with the individual gossan zones up to 11m wide in outcrop and
up to 400m long. Zones of massive barite mineralizaon up to 5m wide as well as disseminated barite
in gossan occur toward the northern end of thetrend. Preliminary rock chip analyses of more than
80 gossan outcrop samples from the trend returnedvery strongly anomalous values in the majority ofsamples in gold, copper, zinc, lead and barium withpeak assay values of 20.1, 8.9, 4.7 g/t for gold, copper 0.36%, zinc 0.3% and lead 0.47%. It has drilled 9holes and the results are pending.
On its Mogoraib exploraon license Sanu has intersected massive sulﬁde style mineralizaon on its Aderat prospect 5km north of its Hambok deposit. The
1070m of diamond core drilled at Aderat to date arepart of a larger drill program to test the “Hambok
trend”, a signiﬁcant geophysical feature deﬁned byanomalous gravity and EM, and geology.

Eritrea-China Sh. Co.
This company is one of the two companies recently
granted exploraon license. It has started its exploraon works at Augaro.

Beijing Donia
Beijing Donia Co. has also started exploraon works
at Defere, located north of Asmara.

Future investment opportunities
The future of Eritrea’s mining industry appears
bright. The prospecve geology of the area together
with an aracve and compeve investment regime makes Eritrea one of the most aracve andrewarding mining investment opportunies.
Results of the exploraon acvies conducted in
the last ten years have proved the high mineralpotenal of the country, and that invesng in Eritrea
is rewarding. Although all areas of exploraon areprospecve, the following are believed to be more
prospecve for investment.

Gold Prospects in South-Western andWestern Eritrea
The south-western part of Eritrea is one of the mostprospecve gold regions in the country. It contains
hundreds of small historic mines and operaonsthat were acve during the Italian occupaonincluding the Augaro mines which was reportedly
the most producve mine in Eritrea. There are also
areas where arsanal gold mining is currently being
undertaken by the local people. Most of these mineral showings and historical mines and old workings
are associated with rocks of: the Augaro-Antore belt
and Bisha VMS and Hykota-Fanco belts.

Deposits in the Augaro-Antore Belt
The Augaro-Antore belt is situated in the southeastern part of Western Lowlands of Eritrea. It stretchesfrom the border in the south to the Barka River tothe north where its extension is masked by intrusions. Localies known for gold in the lower
Augaro-Antore belt include Augaro, Damishoba,
Dase, Tokombia, Ranyo and Doboro. The Augaro
mine appears to have been developed on a series of quartz veins and stringers, some showing
sulphide mineralisaon and formed in a low-pressure region associated with a regional shear zone.
The mineralised system is known to extend for a
distance of 2,900 metres, of which only about 350
17

Mineral potential of Eritrea
metres was mined. The main quartz vein, about
240 metres long, and having an average width of
10 metres, ends in a stockwork of stringers. The
main en-echelon system extends over a strike lengthof 300 metres with widths of 20 – 30 metres. The
recovered gold grade is reported to have been 30– 40 grams per tonne and producon during theperiods 1933 – 1941 and 1955 – 1956 is recorded at
874 kg, although it is widely believed that the actual
producon was greatly in excess of this esmate.
The mine was closed in 1941 due to war and all its
mining equipment was removed. It was re-opened
brieﬂy in 1955 to re-treat the tailings. Other interesng localies in this belt that reached producon include Damishoba, Dase, and Ranyo. Doboro,
Tokombia and others were sll at the development
stage, involving ping and underground exploraon, when the Italian occupaon ended in 1941. In
the southern part of the belt operaons at Antore
and Damanoshila, and in the eastern zone of theBerbere River, all were at various stages of development before the Second World War. In the northernpart of the belt, at Suzena, prospecng started in
1932, and mining was carried out from 1937 – 40.
Dri on three levels were developed, but work wasabandoned on the fourth level due to water problems.
Gold has also been discovered by the local arsanalminers at a number of places in recent mes. These
are indicaons of the high gold potenal of the area.

Gold & Base Metal Prospects in Southern
Eritrea
There are indicaons of the connuity of the Asmara/Debarwa VMS belt for long distance to the south.
Outcrops are known of gossanous rocks, exhalaves and rock assemblages (felsic and maﬁc) suchas those of the Debarwa area, in the Kena area.
There are also many places where local people areconducng arsanal mining. The area west of Kena
could represent another belt of mineralizaon, as
there are areas of recently discovered arsanal
workings south of Monsura area, that are its northern extension.

Gold & Base Metal mineralisation in Northern
Eritrea.
There are indicaons of gold and basemetalmineralizaon in several parts of northern Eritrea.
Old workings and prospects, of Italina me arefound in Seroa and Arruba in Harab Suit. There is a
Cu-mineralizaon along a belt that passes throughRaba and Semait areas where old workings arefound. Gossanous rocks running for hundreds ofmetres occur in Halibet area in farther north.

Deposits in the Bisha VMS Belt

Recent exploraon acvies and the work of arsanal miners in Zara and other areas to the north isindicang the presence of auriferous quartz veinsand stock works in many areas in this part of thecountry.

Based on regional works and satellite image interpretaon, the Bisha VMS and associated volcanosedimentary belt is esmated to have a maximum
width of about 30 kms and extends for more than
100 kms to the south, while its northern extension
is not clear. This belt is believed to be highly prospecve and may connue for a substanal distanceto the north as well as to the south. In addion,records of past exploraon in this area indicatethat quartz veins with varying gold contents havebeen reported from some locaons including Okere(Okreb). Some of these were prospected and exploited before mining stopped due to WWII.

In conclusion, it can be said that mineralizaon inmost part of the country is not well studied. It may
be far more complex and extensive than is apparent. The level of technology and understandingof mineralizaon styles that prevailed during the
Italian occupaon was low, and most of the historicmines and old mining operaons in Eritrea wereinterrupted because of the Second World War. The
investment climate that existed at the me of the
struggle for independence that followed was also
not conducive to the development of these operaons. It is therefore, no doubt that this part of theregion deserves comprehensive exploraon.
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Mineral potential of Eritrea

For further information contact:
Ministry of Energy and Mines
Department of Mines
P.O.Box 272
Asmara,EritreaTel: +291-1-202889+291-1-202843/44
Fax: +291-1-124509

To f i n d o t h e r U s e f u l i n f o r m a t i o n o n E r i t r e a ,please check these sites:-www.shabait.com
www.shaebia.com
www.dehai.org

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© 2008 Ministry of Energy and Mines