HUGE deposits of minerals including potash and sulphur have been discovered in Ethiopia’s northeastern Afar state, officials in Addis Ababa said on Tuesday. Ethiopian and foreign prospectors have found “a huge deposit in the form of salt, potash, sulphur, marble, granite and limestone”, according to the regional office for development, mines and energy, which said the resources amounted to more than one billion tons. “There are some clues that there is also a deposit of gold and other related precious minerals,” according to Ethiopian expert Tesfaye Zewdu, who added that that a foreign company has been prospecting for gold in the region since 1997. He did not name the firm.