A view of an East Africa Metals project area in Ethiopia. Credit: East Africa Metals.
Rising gold prices have resulted in alleged illegal mining activities taking place at two East Africa Metals (TSXV: EAM) properties in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, The Globe and Mail reported.
Although the company insists the projects remain non-operational and inaccessible, witnesses including artisanal miners, security personnel and government sources say former soldiers and Chinese miners, backed by undisclosed investors, extracted gold at the Mato Bula and Da Tambuk sites from early 2024 to mid-2025, The Globe said, citing the conclusions of a joint investigation with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
The region’s interim president has deployed a task force to seize assets and pause mining, though the escalating conflict in the south threatens to derail enforcement, The Globe said. With gold prices up more than 50% this year, the region risks sliding further into a Sudan-style resource conflict, with local communities seeing little benefit, the newspaper said.
Vancouver-based East Africa Metals has teamed up with China’s Tibet Huayu Mining to develop Mato Bula and Da Tambuk, the company said in a June 24 release. Tibet Huayu continues to fund and advance mine planning and pre-development activities at both deposits, East Africa Metals said at the time.
Tibet Huayu continues to fund and advance mine planning and pre-development activities at both deposits, East Africa Metals said in June. The projects are fully permitted and carried through to production, with Tibet Huayu responsible for 100% of capital and development expenditures, according to the statement.
East Africa Metals denies involvement in any illegal activity and rejects claims that its Chinese partners, including subsidiaries of Tibet Huayu, financed or carried out artisanal operations, The Globe reported. Tibet Huayu did not respond to requests for comment, the newspaper added.
But industry insiders say Chinese-linked crews associated with Silk Road Investments and Tigray Resources have mined ore at the sites, The Globe reported.
The story shines a light on the Tigray region’s illicit mining economy, which has flourished in the political vacuum created by the recent civil war. Military factions and local commanders now control key deposits and smuggling routes, enabling a surge in unregulated extraction across the region.