Eritrea continues to attract the attention of gold majors. The...

Eritrea continues to attract the attention of gold majors. The CEO of Harmony Gold was recently asked why his company was not exploring in West Africa;

"We were very much latecomers there. But there are some other areas of Africa that are opening up, like Eritrea and Ethiopia. We are keeping a watching brief on some of those," said Graham Briggs, refer Reuters story September 20, 2010.

Harmony is watching from the sidelines while Chalice Gold is developing a major gold resource at the Zara Gold Project. Undoubtedly, many gold players are watching with envy, the success being achieved by the first movers in Eritrea.

While Harmony is anxiously looking on determined to avoid being latecomers to Eritrea and Ethiopia, Chalice has added 24,000 sq km to its ground position in a country which is "opening up" its doors to foreign investment. Perhaps the CEO of Harmony can try and console Newmont.