Akobo is an extensive placer gold region characterized by a Precambrian belt of metamorphic rocks. These rocks constitute the southernmost part of the West Ethiopian Precambrian Greenstone Belt, a southern extension of the Arabian-Nubian Shield, known for many gold deposits, ancient and modern. Large and small bodies of ultramafic rocks characterize the Akobo area. Similar rocks occur along the belt to the north, e.g. at Yubdo, Tulu Kapi, Tulu Dimtu, Baruda etc, as well as Asosa. Gold is broadly associated with these areas of higher concentration of ultramafic bodies, and has been produced from placer deposits in these western areas of Ethiopia since ancient times.
The region in which the Akobo Minerals license is situated is in the far southwest of Ethiopia. For thousands of years, western Ethiopia has been renowned for its placer gold – but it is only now that the potential in the southernmost part, The Akobo Basin, is starting to be realised. Akobo is now known to be an extensive placer gold region characterized by a Neoproterozoic belt of metamorphic rocks. These rocks constitute the southernmost part of the Western Ethiopian Shield, a southern extension of the Arabian- Nubian Shield, known for many gold deposits, both ancient and modern. Large and small bodies of ultramafic rocks characterize the Akobo area. Similar rocks occur along the belt to the north, including at Yubdo, Tulu Kapi, Tulu Dimtu, Baruda and Asosa. Gold is broadly associated with these areas of higher concentrations of ultramafic bodies, having been produced from placer deposits in these western areas of the country since ancient times.
Until a few decades ago, the Akobo basin district was a very remote and sparsely populated area. Gold was not known to occur. Some exploration for base metals was undertaken during the country’s occupation by Italy 1936-1941, but in recent years it is local artisans that have been responsible for gold extraction in the region. These artisan workings and anomalous gold concentrations in rock, soil and stream sediments now point to potentially sizeable untapped gold resources in this region of southwest Ethiopia.
In Ethiopian terms, Akobo is a lowland area. Made up of gently rolling, treed savannah landscape, it is semi-arid with a gentle rainy season between June and November, while temperatures can reach above 40 degrees centigrade during the hot, dry periods. Akobo Minerals’ camp is located about 700 km by road from the capital, Addis Ababa, with all but the final 30 kilometres served by asphalt road.
