Prime
Mixed reactions welcome critical minerals discovery
Energy minister Ruth Nankabirwa and Vincent Kedi, assistant commissioner, license administration. Photos | File
What you need to know:
- Twenty-eight exploration pits were dug by local labourers and graphite was highly visible along the 18km strike.
The commercial production of graphite under the Orom-Cross Graphite project is set to roll out in Orom Sub-County, Kitgum District, in 2025, the Energy ministry has said.
The development is set to be undertaken by Blencowe Resources, a UK-based firm, the Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum added.
“The company is on the ground at the moment undertaking all preparations to start the development and they run a 21-year mining licence,” a source at the Geological Survey and Mines in the Energy ministry revealed.
In April 2020, Blencowe Resources acquired the project and raised £2m for project development to take over the Orom project from Australia’s Consolidated Africa Resources and the UK’s New Energy Minerals.
Accordingly, Consolidated Africa Resources, the project’s main shareholder reportedly took £1.5m, with New Energy Resources settling for £500,000.
Two years ago, Consolidated Africa Resources undertook an assessment and concluded that the Orom graphite deposits stood at approximately 96 million tonnes.
However, when Blencowe Resources conducted another assessment, it discovered substantial graphite deposits measuring between 2 and 3 billion tonnes.
The company also completed metallurgical test works from SGS Labs in Toronto, Canada, to prove that the Orom-cross project could produce a high-quality concentrate in July 2021. A metallurgical test is conducted on a metal to verify its properties. Data obtained from the VTEM (versatile time domain electromagnetic) system revealed the survey area to a depth extension of approximately 250m below the surface.
The geophysical survey also outlined several large-scale anomalies which extended laterally across the license area.
The area had undergone pitting, trenching and drilling of one borehole from a previous exploration exercise carried out by the Department of Geological Survey and Mines, Entebbe, as early as 1969, with deposits stretching for 18km and a 1km width.
A recent field visit was carried out on the exploration area which is highly prospective for graphite. Twenty-eight exploration pits were dug by local labourers and graphite was highly visible along the 18km strike.
Meanwhile, the district leadership of Kitgum and a section of community members are already anticipating an improvement in services and livelihoods as the project begins to take shape.
Mr Christopher Obol, the district chairperson, said landowners and the mining company have reached an agreement over the use of the land with a premium (lease) of 49 years to be paid after every five years.
“All beneficiaries have been registered and payment started through dfcu bank, depending on the size of the land a family or individual owns. The company has also asked these persons to relocate elsewhere as works start,” he added. Natural graphite is mostly used to make batteries, brake linings, foundry facings and lubricants, etc. But not everyone is over the moon about the project.
“If the run-off water is not managed well, this can cause an impact on surrounding ecosystems, including pollution to water sources and the related negative impacts,” Mr Tonny Olanya Olenge, a principal with the Acholi Mineral Resource think-tank, said of water catchments that need to be protected from mineral waste.
Mr Thomas Kadet, the head of Tuboi Village in Orom East Sub-county, said farmlands have already been affected by the mining.
“We expect the mineral right holder to fully comply with the Nema Act, and, as government, we are committed to supervising the companies who fail to adhere to the act because our biodiversity is pertinent to us,” Mr Vincent Kedi, the assistant commissioner, license administration in the mines department, said.
Per Mr Kedi, Blencowe Resources Limited is expected to bring its machinery for assembling early next year ahead of the planned production in 2025.
“[The] government takes 70 percent from the revenue royalty while the district local government takes 15 percent, sub-county 10 percent and land owner five percent,” Mr Kedi said.
Discoveries
The government has also confirmed the discovery of 18 new mineral potential targets following a recent airborne geophysical mapping. The minerals discovered include: nickel (Iganga gabbro intrusion); gold (Zeu, Zombo District); chromite, marble, gold (Moroto area); kimberlite (Kidera, southeast Uganda); nickel, copper, cobalt, rare earth element (Naigobya); and limestone, phosphate, iron ore, titanium, vermiculite (Bukusu carbonatite).
The mapping also discovered new gold deposits in the Kaliro-Ivukula area, gold in the Aboke-Alito area, iron ore deposits in Buhara-Kabale, and iron ore in Butogota, Kanungu District. Sunday Monitor also established that the Energy ministry has also mapped and prioritised 10 targets of uranium deposits for detailed exploration. The targets include: Kei and Midigo-Kaya Basin (Arua); Acha-Alo Basin (Pakwach); Zipia, Bibia, Pakele-Ayugi Basin (Adjumani); Namokora, Ogili and Wol (Pader-Agago Basin) in Kitgum, among others.
