Ethiopia’s Precious Metals Refinery Targets 600-Tonne Annual Capacity

What changed

Ethiopia’s National Precious Metals Refinery at Bole Lemi Special Economic Zone is designed to process more than 600 tonnes of precious metals a year at full capacity.

The partnership between Ethiopian Investment Holdings and Sam Precious Metals will assay, refine and cast gold into export-ready bullion, while producing cast and minted gold and silver bars in different purities.

Why it matters

Ethiopia is trying to keep more of the value created by its mineral wealth inside the country. The refinery links mining to domestic processing and manufacturing, rather than stopping at the extraction stage.

That could also give Ethiopia a stronger role in regional precious-metals markets. The facility is intended to improve transparency, quality assurance and confidence in gold valuation, while supporting the government’s ambition to become a regional refining and manufacturing hub.

The key qualification is timing: the announcement gives a full-capacity design figure, but not when that level will be reached.