For years it has been said that Ethiopia is endowed with an immense amount of natural resources which, if utilized effectively, is adequate to change the fate of its poor people for the better.

However, the real challenge lies not in reckoning this fact but in finding out scientifically where these strategic resources are found?

And with what level of concentration do they exist? Moreover, what kind of technology would be appropriate to extract them? All the questions forwarded are an essential part of any extraction and utilization of the country's resources. Due to this, studies in such sensitive areas surely demand high investment capital and expertise knowledge.

The Ethiopian Geological Survey, which basically performs the task of gathering, interpreting and illustrating the necessary information concerning the geological conditions of the country, is the pioneer organization in this field and it strives to provide answers to the aforementioned questions. With respect to its various activities and plan the director general of the organization, Ato Tolossa Shagi Moti, held an exclusive interview with The Reporter. Tolossa said that most of the projects that his organization executes emanate from the government's five-year strategic plan and consideration of the project's importance to the whole economy.

He said that besides giving all the technical support needed to the government's various projects, the organization executed about thirteen capital projects with its own initiative during the last budget year, which incorporates study on gold, other base metals, regional geophysics, underground water, hydro geophysics, mineral inputs for agriculture, among others. Especially the studies concerning the hydrogeology projects are highly demanded by regional and federal governments for the purpose of various development projects like providing clean drinking water to society. As a result, Tolossa said, they are working to complete most of the studies at the moment and are ready to put them under the users disposal.

"The growing demand for energy resources is attracting investors who have interest in coal production," he said. Concerning coal, he said studies have been finalized and it is on the way to development. Other deposits like Dilbi, Moye, Chilga and Mushe, though their studies are not fully finalized, it was recognized that there exists a considerable amount of deposits in the locations. It was also learnt that most of the sites have generated higher interest for explorations. And applications for exploration license have been submitted by various investors.

On the other hand, Tolossa did not deny the fact that geographical survey is a strategic study which might demand a lot of capital investment. However, the result from such studies at the same time yield vital economic advantage to the country. For instance, studies about the region's geology and hydro-geology is expected to cover all parts of the country, so that the result could be used in infrastructure developments, agriculture and industry developments and most importantly it will be used in mining activities. So it would be advantageous to allocate adequate budget and conduct the work.

In addition, air-borne geophysics studies are a basis for every under-ground mineral study and at the moment a number of mining companies use the geophysics studies and satellite photographs as fundamental source of information in extracting endavours. So, every expenditure in this field is worth every penny since it would bring considerable benefit to the nation.

"It is clear that detailed study and development of minerals is not something that could be done by the government alone. Rather, what we are doing is just selecting the mining sites and collecting and illustrating some basic information about the geology and prepare it for further study for investors," he said. Otherwise, it would not be possible to complete the work, he added. Private investors have to intervene and use the basic information we provide to complete the work. With respect to this fact, the organization said that it does not face a serious budget shortage. However, Tolossa said that once the civil service reform has started to be implemented the output of the organization is expected to rise and at that time additional budget might be required. But, at the moment, the sum allocated to the organization can not be labeled as being inadequate to do the job.