Barran Press
The official Yemeni news agency "Saba" reported on Sunday, August 4, 2024, that a team from the Ministry of Oil and Minerals and the Geological Survey and Mineral Resources Authority inspected mining sites along the coastal strip between the governorates of Aden and Hadhramaut (south Yemen).
The agency stated that the team included a Member of the Shura Council and Advisor to the Minister of Oil and Minerals Dr. Rashid Barba', Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry Yousef Ahmed, and the Head of the Geological Survey and Mineral Resources Authority, Engineer Ahmed Yamani. It added that the team observed the "efforts of the authority's team to carry out a geological and geochemical survey of the coastal strip."
Dr. Rashid Barba' emphasized the "importance of these efforts," which he said "contribute to strengthening national resources and opening new avenues for investment in the mining sector," according to the agency.
Engineer Yamani, in turn, commended the "efforts of the authority's technical and exploration teams in conducting preliminary studies to highlight national resources and available investment opportunities in the mining sector."
This marks the first move by the internationally recognized Yemeni government to conduct geological and geochemical surveys in the country. All mining investment activities have been halted since the outbreak of war following the Houthi group's invasion of the Yemeni capital Sana'a on September 21, 2014. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by many countries.
In 2009, the Yemeni government began implementing a package of legislative and legal reforms in the mining sector, as part of its efforts to attract Gulf, Arab, and foreign investments to Yemen's rich mineral sector. It was expected that the mining sector in Yemen would contribute approximately $1 billion annually to the state treasury.
At the time, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, anticipated that Yemen's mineral sector would contribute $1 billion annually to the state treasury if its potential was exploited and a suitable environment for attracting mining investments was created.
Yemen possesses promising investment opportunities in the mining sector, which includes various metallic minerals such as gold, silver, iron, zinc, lead, copper, and nickel, as well as industrial minerals such as limestone, gypsum, building stones, granite, marble, and other minerals.