News Sun Peak defies regional officials in commencing Tigray mining operations
Firm execs have ties to firms accused of slavery, human rights abuses in Eritrea
A controversial Canadian mining firm says it is commencing operations in several sites in Tigray despite regional officials insisting the company does not hold valid concessions or licenses.
In a lengthy statement issued on December 19, 2024, Sun Peak Metals Corporation announced operations are underway and will continue at several gold mining sites in Tigray, mainly in the vicinity of Shire.
The project sites mentioned in the report include Meli, Terer, Anguda, Hamlo, and Nefasit, with some of the sites containing more than one mine.
The company report details it has begun drilling and exploration, with major works slated to begin in the first quarter of 2025.
“We are excited to advance exploration on the Shire Project, particularly at the Meli and Anguda North trends. Our recent mapping and surveying efforts have revealed significant new targets that reinforce the Shire Project’s exceptional copper-gold potential. As we prepare to launch drilling in early 2025, we remain focused on unlocking the value of this promising VMS system,” stated Greg Davis, president and CEO of Sun Peak.
The report indicates the firm holds no less than six exploration licenses covering nearly 1,500 square kilometers of land in Tigray.
Sun Peak’s Meli and Terer licenses are part of a joint-venture deal with Ezana Mining Development Plc, a subsidiary of the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT), according to the report. The remaining four licenses are wholly owned by Sunpeak.
In a previous report dated September 30, 2024, Sun Peak stated it had been forced to stop its work in Tigray owing to the two-year war that broke out in late 2020.
“The company immediately suspended all work programs and invoked force majeure by notification to Ethiopia’s Ministry of Mines,” it reads.
The report indicates the federal government gave Sun Peak the green light to continue work on the Terer, Meli, and Nefasit sites in early 2024, more than a year after the war ended.
“Sun Peak has since commenced work on these three licenses including drilling to test multiple copper-gold VMS [volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposit] targets developed by the Company,” reads the report.
However, regional officials say they have not granted Sun Peak leave to continue its operations.
“There were JVs entered with Sunpeak before the war, but they need to be revisited. But as of now, we do not know of their operations in Tigray,” said a source at Ezana Mining.
Ezana holds a monopoly over gold mining in Tigray and has a long history of opaque JVs with a web of foreign companies (and sometimes its own subsidiaries). However, the firm has dissolved these agreements since the two-year war broke out.
The regional mining bureau wrote to the Ministry of Mines nearly a year ago, requesting the concessions granted to nearly 30 firms be revoked. Sun Peak is on the list.
Federal officials have not revoked the licenses, but the regional bureau considers them null and void.
“The foreign companies are issuing statements claiming they are pursuing projects in Tigray mainly to raise funds from investors abroad and maintain their status in foreign stock exchanges,” stated an official close to the matter.
Sun Peak Metals Corporation was established in June 2016 in Canada. The company registered in Ethiopia later that year under the name Sun Peak Ethiopia Mining Plc. It entered into a joint venture agreement with Ezana Mining in 2017, forming the Axum Metals Share Company.
Sun Peak holds a five percent stake in Axum Metal—a position it has used to gain extensive opportunities to conduct mineral exploration and mining in various parts of Tigray, states a recent report.
Reports indicate that Sun Peak managers were previously involved in mining operations in Eritrea before shifting their focus to Tigray.
Greg Davis, president, was vice-president of Sun Ridge gold in Eritrea, which was sold in 2016. He also headed Nevsun Resources, another mining firm, at the Bisha project site in Eritrea.
David Daud, current vice president for Sun Peak Ethiopia, was also involved in Sun Ridge and Nevsun’s Eritrea operations.
The managers moved on to Tigray after the companies and projects in Eritrea were sold off. Later, these companies were caught up in litigation in Canada. The government of Eritrea has a reported 40 percent stake in both Sun Ridge and Nevsun.
Three Eritrean nationals, who used to work at the sites in Eritrea, filed lawsuits in Canada alleging labor abuse. The workers, who were deployed by the Eritrean government under the forced military conscription, were forced to work on the sites.
Sun Ridge and Nevsun both opted to liquidate in a bid to beat the charges, according to reports.
However, Canadian judicial officials ruled the companies could be held accountable for alleged human rights abuses in Eritrea despite liquidation.
The plaintiffs allege the firms were involved in slavery, torture, and crimes against humanity.
The Eritrean projects previously under Nevsun and Sun Ridge were acquired by Zijin Mining, a Chinese firm.