Nankabirwa Re-opens Mining Portal

The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Dr Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, has today at Uganda Media Centre re-opened the Online Mining Cadastre Transaction Portal to the general public.

Nankabirwa encouraged current and prospective license holders to familiarise themselves with the law, including imminent regulations, because all registered portal users shall strictly adhere to the legal requirements in the Mining and Minerals Act, 2022.

She said the government established the Online Mining Cadastre Transaction Portal in 2019 to manage mineral rights, including licensing, communication, reporting and payments.

She further said that the Ministry is upgrading its online mineral licensing system to align with the new law.

“The Ministry has ensured that all the mineral licensing processes and transactions are conducted online to ensure transparency and accountability in the mineral,” she explained.

The process of applying for mineral licenses is entirely online HERE or HERE.

The new Mining and Mineral Act 2022, the minister said, implement the objectives of the Mining and Mineral Policy 2018, addresses critical challenges, increases revenue from the mineral sector, introduces a comprehensive, stable, transparent, efficient and effective legal and regulatory framework to govern the mining sub-sector.

The Act provides for competitive bidding for mineral licenses, exploration for geothermal resources and their direct uses, state equity participation, and establishing a state-owned mining company to cater for the state’s commercial interests in mining. The Act establishes mineral production sharing, local content, international treaties domestication and ASM regulation.

Acquisition of new data

The Ministry plans to conduct a detailed exploration of some mineral prospects, leading to feasible mining projects that can be packaged for investments through competitive bidding.

To achieve this, Nankabirwa said, the government is investing in acquiring high-resolution geological, geochemical and geophysical data and generated mineral targets to be packaged for investors to carry on detailed exploration.

"The government has completed phase one of the airborne geophysical survey, where preliminary data has been acquired over the Karamoja and Lamwo region, completing the 20% gap in the geophysical dataset in the country. Interpretation of the data and sensitisation of communities for ground follow-up is ongoing," the minister revealed.