Two Australia-listed mining companies have been caught up in the Guinean government's revocation of inactive or noncompliant permits, as the West African nation moves to tighten control over its natural resources sector.

Predictive Discovery said on Wednesday it had become aware that its Argo and Bokoro exploration permits were among more than 100 cancelled by Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Geology (MMG) on Monday evening. The company said it had not been formally notified by the government but would appeal the decision in accordance with the country's Mining Code.

“The applications for extension of these permits were submitted to the MMG in 2021 and 2023, respectively,” the company said. “Predictive Discovery has not received any formal communication from the Guinean government on the matter but intends to work diligently to appeal the revocations in accordance with the Mining Code.”

Importantly, Predictive stressed the revoked permits did not include the Kaninko and Saman tenements – the backbone of its flagship Bankan gold project – which contain 5.38-million ounces of the 5.53-million-ounce resource base.

Predictive noted progress on its exploitation permit application for Bankan, which it said was recently reviewed by the Ministry’s technical committee of titles and has now been passed to the National Mining Commission.

Equatorial Resources has also been impacted, with two of its key iron-ore tenements – Nimba West and Nimba North – cited in local media as among those cancelled. The company said it had not been officially notified and was seeking clarification.

“Equatorial has been actively engaged with the Ministry of Mines and relevant Guinea authorities to support its renewal applications for the Nimba West and Nimba North permits,” the company said in a statement. 

“The company has not received any formal communication from the Guinea government in relation to a change to the status of its exploration permits in Guinea.

“Equatorial is seeking clarification from the relevant authorities in Guinea as to the status of its exploration permits and will provide a further update to the market as soon as there is any update on the status of its exploration permits,” it added.

Meanwhile, Asara Resources, which is also listed on the ASX, said that it had not received any formal communication from the MMG but that, to the best of its knowledge, its exploration permits that comprise the Kada gold project (Kada) had not been revoked.

Exploration activities at Kada were said to be continuing to progress, with drilling having started on Tuesday.