Uganda has inaugurated its first large-scale gold mine, a $250 million Chinese-owned project in the east of the country that includes facilities capable of refining bullion to 99.9% purity, the president’s office said.
The East African nation, which is also rich in copper, cobalt, and iron ore, is aiming to grow its mining sector and establish itself as a major gold producer, according to Reuters.
Gold has already become Uganda’s biggest foreign-exchange earner, bringing in $3.4 billion last year, or about 37% of total exports, though much of that revenue came from re-exports rather than domestic production, which until now has been dominated by artisanal miners.
By comparison, Ghana, Africa’s top gold producer, earned $11.6 billion from exports in 2023.
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“In order to wake up in the minerals sector, we must have full value addition for all minerals like gold, lithium, tin among others,” President Yoweri Museveni said.
For years, African governments have sought to curb the export of raw minerals, a practice long criticised for draining value from the continent while most of the processing takes place abroad.
The new plant, now operational, is expected to process 5,000 tons of ore daily and produce about 1.2 metric tons of refined gold annually, a sharp rise compared to Uganda’s total output of just 0.0042 tons in 2023.
Museveni said gold revenues will also be used to finance major infrastructure projects, including power plants and a $3.16 billion standard-gauge railway designed to cut transport costs for exports and imports through neighbouring Kenya.
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Image Credit: Business Insider Africa
