WOODCROSS RESOURCES COMPANY LAUNCHES A TIN SMELTING PLANT AT RUTI, MBARARA DISTRICT
On Friday the 12th April 2024, H.E the president of Uganda launched a Tin processing plant at Ruti, Mbarara District, Uganda. The plant is owned by Woodcross Resources, a company licensed to mine at Ruhama Mine, Ntungamo District under license number ML 1466 and is capacitated to smelt over 1000 tonnes of tin. Tin (Sn) is a chemical element of atomic number 50 and atomic weight 118.69g from carbon family, Group 14 (IVa) of the periodic table. It is a soft, silvery white metal with a bluish tinge, known to the ancients as bronze, an alloy with copper. It is obtained from a mineral called Cassiterite which contains Stanic Oxide. Tin is the 49th most abundant element in Earth’s crust, representing 2 ppm compared with 75 ppm for zinc, 50 ppm for copper, and 14 ppm for lead widely used for plating steel cans used as food containers, in metals used for bearings, and in solder. The world’s leading producer of Tin is China followed by Indonesia. In Uganda, Tin is mostly found in South Western Uganda at Kikagati, Mwirasandu and Nyamuliro. The launched tin processing plant, located at Ruti, Mbarara District, has a capacity to process over 1000 tonnes of Tin per year. With the ability to smelt Tin from within Uganda, implies that Uganda’s tin market value price would also increase. During the launch, President Museveni re-emphasized his call for value-addition to Uganda’s raw materials especially minerals so that Ugandans can find employment and also expand market for our goods and services like electricity, water and others to boost the economy. According to Woodcross Company, its choice for investing in tin follows a steady increase in the financial market This is another achievement for Uganda and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development whose mandate is to establish, promote the development, strategically manage and safeguard the rational and sustainable exploitation and utilization of energy and mineral resources for social and economic development of Uganda. The new tin processing plant actualises the job creation to improve livelihoods of communities around it and also generate revenues from goods and services utilised.
Uganda joins DRC, Rwanda, Burundi & Tanzania in issuance of the ICGLR Certificate
The republic of Uganda through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development launched the issuance of the ICGLR Certificate for designated minerals in Uganda. These minerals include: Tin, Tungsten, Tantalum and Gold and these are always abbreviated as the 3TGs. The certificate was launched by Hon. Peter Lokeris at the event held on the 29th November 2023 at Speke Resort Munyonyo. In attendance was the Permament Secretary Ms. Irene Buteebe. ICGLR certificate was named after the International Conference for Greatlakes Region held in December 2010, Lusaka Zambia. This certificate is one of the six (6) tools of the Regional Initiative to fight against the Illegal exploitation of Natural Resources (RINR) in the Great Lakes Region that was signed into force by the heads of ICGLR member states. The other 5 tools of RINR include; So far the certificate is applicable in DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania. Making Uganda the 5th member state now. Anyone with rights of exploitation of the 3TGs shall apply for this certificate which is issued after completion of all the validation steps. Details of these steps and requirements can be accessed in the document below.https://dgsm.go.ug/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Regional-Certification.pdf
MEMD HELD A SENSITIZATION WORKSHOP ON THE NEW MINING AND MINERALS LEGAL FRAMEWORK
The legal framework governing Uganda’s Mining and minerals activities has undergone a series of changes since 2018. First the Mineral Policy 2001 was revised in 2018 to incorporate emerging issues in the sector as well as application of the digital era into the work operating systemby introducing a digitized licensing system (Mining Cadastre). These changes introduced the new Mining and Mineral Policy 2018 intended to incorporate the previously excluded substances, competitive application for brown and green fields, government participation in mining and also promote the use of technology in regulation of mining and mineral rights for transparency, efficiency and effectiveness. And this led to the new Mining and Minerals Act 2022 and Mining and Minerals Regulations 2022 which actualizes the above mentioned Act It is from that background that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development through Mines Department organized an interactive workshop with stakeholders to digest the new emerging issues in the legal framework. The event took place from 29th August to 1st September 2023 under the theme: “Enhancing stakeholders knowledge and practical actualization of the Mining legal framework for compliance and Development” at Fairway Hotel. Virtual attendance was also considered. The Workshop was officially opened by Hon. Peter Lokeris, Minister of State for Minerals. Key Highlights raised during the conferences included: The Workshop was closed by Ms. Agnes Alaba, Commissioner/ Mines Department. The event was sponsored by PlanetGold, GIZ and ICGLR.
Mining Indaba 2023
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development participated in the Mining Indaba 2023. The delegation included, from L-R; Mr. Godfrey Bahati, Commissioner/ Geothermal Resource Department ; Ms. Loyola Korobwa, Mining Lawyer; Hon. Peter Lokeris, Minister of State for Mineral Development; Eng. Irene Bateebe Permanent Secretary; Mr. Isaiah Tumwikirize, Principal Geophysicist; Ms. Agnes Alaba, Ag. Director/ DGSM. This year, over 7,000 delegates from governments, investors, deal makers, mining companies, explorers, communities, and academia are meeting under the theme ‘Unlocking African Investment: Stability, Security, and Supply”.
The new Mining and Minerals Act 2022
The new Mining and Minerals Act 2022 On Thursday 13th October 2022, His Excellency, the President of Uganda signed the new law of the Mining and Minerals bill into a law. DGSM now operates under the new Mining and Minerals Act 2022 which replaces the Mining Act 2003 which has been in force force for the last 18 years. Below are some of the Highlights in the new Mining and Minerals Act 2022.
Mourning The Death Of Mr. Kiggwe Richard, Geologist
On 21st March 2022, we experienced a grave loss when our team undertaking geochemical surveys at Rupa, Lokisilei village fell into an ambush of castle rustlers who killed 5 people including our own Mr. Kiggwe Richard, the lead Geologist of the group. The incident happened during the ground follow-up of the recently concluded airborne survey conducted by X-Calibur Airborne Geophysics Limited under the funding of Karamoja project. As you recall Karamoja region was left out during the SMMRP data collection project. Hence the need to design a Karamoja project whose main objective was to collect geoscientific data from areas of Karamoja to establish the mineral potential of Karamoja region. The geochemical survey exercise was being undertaken by sixteen geologists, forty (40) security officers, liaison officers and casual laborers split into 8 groups. Some teams were deployed in Nakapiripirit District while others were deployed in Moroto District. Sadly one of the groups deployed in Moroto couldn’t make it back because they fell into an ambush of cattle rustlers leaving 5 of them dead. According to the survivor, who was the translator, efforts to explain to the killers the purpose of the team in Karamoja were futile as they the gunmen proceeded to shoot leaving everyone dispersed and some killed. Other people who were killed included; Ms. Edna Musiime, a geology student from Makerere University, Mr. Charles Olweny and two UPDF soldiers who were body guarding the group It is unfortunate because the incident didn’t only create trauma among other team members and all other staff, but also it has affected the project work which has now come to a standstill till further notice. Geological fieldwork involves some level of risk, which can be reduced by complete sensitization of local communities. However, the Karamojong being nomads, it’s a bit hard to find them settled in one area to sensitize them about our work in their regions. Especially now when there is ongoing disarmament in the region. Hence most of them are not aware of geological investigations done by DGSM countrywide. Our heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to the families of the deceased and we pray that the culprits of the brutal actions are brought to book.
Samta Mining And Minerals Ltd Set To Commence Exploratory Drilling Of Nickel In Atiak, Amuru District
Exploratory drilling for Nickel by Samta in Atiak, Amuru District. Today, the 10th of December, 2021, DGSM witnessed the commencement of exploratory drilling for Nickel mineralization by Samta Mining and Minerals Ltd in Atiak, Gulu District SAMTA Mining and Minerals Ltd is an Indian company that has been involved in mineral exploration in Uganda for four years now, with exploration projects in Zombo and Arua in West Nile, Gulu and Amuru in Northern Uganda, Ntungamo, Mitooma, and Kyenjonjo in Western Uganda where it is following up on prospects of Nickel, Tantalise, gold, and associated base metals. The company also has exploration projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and also recently committed to invest USD. 100 million in mining in Morocco. In line with the Government of Uganda’s efforts to promote national participation and local content, SAMTA contracted GMAT Lab, a local drilling company to drill targets in its Gulu -Atiak tenements and another, Geotech to drill targets in Zombo- Arua exploration tenements. Samta has further set up a sample preparation and test laboratory in Arua which is equipped with X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF)e spectrometer and an analytical Jena contra 800 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) which it is using to carry out a preliminary assessment as well as complement analyses. Samta Laboratory Nickel is a silvery white metal with a pale golden shade. It is hard, ductile and is known to be corrosion resistant. Hence can be used for plaiting iron and brass . Nickel is also used in batteries, kitchen ware, plumbing items like overhead showers, mobile phones, jewelleries, power generation and so on. Products made out Nickel are known to possess greater toughness and resistant to temperatures. In event that Samta establishes nickel ore reserves and proceeds to mining, this implies Uganda would join countries like Phillipines, Russia, Australia and Canada in the production of Nickel. This would also imply the country would be able to secure supply of materials for industries given that industrialization is currently being pursued to create jobs and improve the standard of living of Ugandans.
DGSM Staff Training on analytical fingerprint method
DGSM staff undertook a one-day training workshop on Analytical finger printing method today the 30th November 2021at Imperial Golf View Hotel, Entebbe The training aims at preparing key staff on mineral tracking using AFP and it focuses on the “Designated Minerals”: Tin, Tungsten, Tantalum and Gold (3TGs). Once in place, the technique is expected to resolve illegal mineral exploitation and trade within the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region ICGLR) namely: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Republic of South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia. Analytical Finger printing is one of the tools proposed by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development for monitoring mineral movement to reduce illegal mineral trading in the country. It is a complementary tool that can be added to demonstrate due diligence compliance in case one doubts the source of the commodity. This optional traceability tool uses intrinsic mineral information (mineralogical, geochemical, and chronological features of 3T ore concentrates) and existing statistical data to trace the source of the 3T mineral concentrates (Tin, Tantalite, and Tungsten) and to make sure that these minerals were not mined from red-flagged mines. SOME OF THE KEY STAFF WHO UNDERTOOK TRAINING IN AFP All is required is an identified sample of the commodity in transit with its paper work which should contain origin of sample. The training was conducted by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) who happen to be the developers of the method and the implementers on behalf of the ICGLR . The training was funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Some of the key highlights of the training included the legal framework for AFP, steps to follow during sampling, and evaluation of the AFP data. As mineral resources regulators, we trust that the training shall equip staff with techniques in field mineral sampling, testing and verification.
