Mali frees Resolute executives after $160 million deal, AFP reports
The three executives, including CEO Terry Holohan, were freed from detention on Wednesday.
Uganda on Wednesday said recent exploration surveys have shown it has gold ore deposits of about 31 million tonnes and it wants to attract big investors to develop the sector hitherto dominated by small wildcat miners.
Over the last two years, aerial exploration was done across the country followed by geophysical and geochemical surveys and analyses, Solomon Muyita, spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, told Reuters.
Muyita said an estimated 320,158 tonnes of refined gold could be extracted from the 31 million tonnes of ore.
Most of the deposits were discovered in Karamoja, a parched sprawling area in the country’s northeastern corner on the border with Kenya. Large reserves were also found in eastern, central, and western areas of the East African country.
Muyita said Wagagai, a Chinese company, had set up a mine in Busia in eastern Uganda and was expected to start production this year. Wagagai had invested $200 million, he said, and its mine will have a refining unit.
President Yoweri Museveni’s government has been seeking to ramp up investment in mining to develop resources like copper, iron ore, gold, cobalt, and phosphates.
Parliament early this year enacted a new mining law that, once signed by the president, will pave way for the creation of a state mining company.
The company will compulsorily acquire a 15% stake in every mining operation and investors will be required to sign a production-sharing agreement with the government. Previously investors were given mining production licenses on a first-come, first-served basis.
(By Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa and Mark Porter)
20 Comments
Godfrey
Minning has been on the African continent since time immemorial. My question is, why are the lives of the common native Africans miserable?
Joe
Probably because of war lords, corruption, dictators etc.
Rogelio
They are there already ,to senction. USA are everywhere where they are not wanted .
Robinson Francis
The real reason for this is poor governance by their political classes. The elites of their society are not interested to build a nation. However, there are some countries which are doing better than the rest.
René Fernández de Lara arias
Del oro en África no se conoce ni el 5 porciento, solo buscarlo y administrarlo para el bien de las personas
Stiv
Soon, they will see american democracy on their stepdoor
John Hohulin
I’m afraid you’re correct my friend. As an American I am deeply ashamed of the destruction my government brings to other nations in the form of military intervention under the guise of “implementing democracy”
We (Americans) in large part do not support this.
🙁
Chris Lee
The US government is hardly ‘your government’, any more than the man with a whip who pronounced people his slaves was ‘their master’.
More correct to call it ‘the rulers who impose themselves on you with threats of escalating violence’.
Jason
That’s exactly what I just said to my mate. They will make some sort of crisis and captain America will come and save the day. Hooray…..
Lars
The Chinese democracy is already there.
JBP
30,000,000 / 300,000 = 100 : 1 ore to gold. WOW. Almost unbelievable……..
Gemma
Please Uganda for a change let the world see and know that Africa loves her people. update your villages with proper health clinics ,paved roads ,proper street lightings ,proper sanitation, educate the young, give them the opportunities and help your neighbours who needs help.
Michel
These numbers don’t make sense. It would mean the deposit(s) would grade about 1000gr per tonne, which is impossible. The richest gold mines have grades of 20 to 30 gr per tonne, which is already 10 times higher than most gold mines.
The annual world production is around 3,000 tonnes per year. If such a deposit exists, the gold price will crash to less than $100 per once.
Sokol
I produce 55+ g/t!!
Mark
These numbers don’t add up at all. 320,000t of gold introduced at pace would collapse the price. I recently moved into gold from other poorly performing investments and this is not good news. Are we going to see a pivot to Africa, with Ukraine suddenly becoming unimportant for the globalists?
Rich
Watch out Uganda for American or bloody Brits so called Democrcy
Tony
Uganda was an ex. German colony. Who’s to say Germany didn’t stache this away there just before the end of WW2.
Lars
No, Uganda was a British colony. Tanganyika (now Tanzania) was German.
Mark Horan
This is 10kg per tonne. Where is the evidence ?
Ranger
I would expect a credible reporter to put the pencil to a claim like this and ask for more confirmable information from the source of this story before publishing it. Perhaps the prospective area mentioned is part of Heaven on Earth where the streets are paved with gold.