Guinea cancels 129 exploration permits, further tightening control
Guinea's military government has cancelled 129 minerals exploration permits, it said in a statement late on Monday, as the West African nation tightens control over its assets.
A senior official at the Ministry of Mines said the decision was taken to free unused resources for other investors.
"We've simplified it by digitising the whole system, which can now be better controlled," the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It wasn't immediately clear whether any significant investments would be affected by the move.
A second Guinean ministry official said most of the cancelled permits were to identify gold deposits and that the assets had been returned to the state.
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