UGANDA has targeted strategic partnerships with “young” mineral developers as part of efforts to formalise its mining interests through a newly formed state-owned mining company.
“This company will manage the state’s commercial interests in the mining industry,” Uganda’s minister for energy and mineral development, Ruth Nankabirwa was quoted as saying in a report by Reuters. “It will do so through strategic partnerships with young developers in the private sector,” she said.
All mining activities in the east African country have previously been done by private firms after obtaining exploration and mining licenses, said Reuters. Under a new mining law approved in 2022, the government can compulsorily take a 15% free carry stake in all mining operations in the country.
The move is part of broader efforts to expand Uganda’s share of the value from its mineral wealth, following in the footsteps of other African countries such as Tanzania.
President Yoweri Museveni’s government has also been pushing investors in the sector to process minerals and add value domestically instead of exporting them in raw form. In April, Uganda launched its first tin refining company by mining firm Woodcross resources, which refines tin ore to 99.9% purity, the newswire said.
Chinese-backed Sunbird Resources has also been licensed to mine limestone for cement production in Karamoja region in Uganda’s northeast region, while Australia’s Ionic Rare Earths (IXR.AX), opens new tab has been licensed to mine and process rare earths.
Ugandan geologists say the country has large deposits of a range of minerals including gold, cobalt, copper, iron ore, rare earths, among others.
