A new mining law to be debated by parliament starting December promises to improve the environment for investment and generally enhance Uganda’s mining sector.

“We hope to have a new law for debate in Parliament by December,” Peter Lokeris, the State Minister for mineral development told the annual general meeting of the Uganda Chamber of Minerals and Petroleum (UCMP), an outfit that brings together players in the petroleum and mining sectors last week.

Hon. Lokeris said the new law is part of an ongoing review of Uganda’s fiscal and regulatory framework intended to “reshape the future” of the country’s mining sector.

Government has been reviewing the Mining Act, 2003 and Mining Regulations, 2004 to align them with the revised Mineral Policy

The reviewed framework aims to address several issues that have haunted the sector including; conflicts over competing land uses, the rise of unregulated artisanal and small scale mining activities and the inadequate enforcement of health and safety provisions.

The new framework also aims to increase productivity and the creation of new mines by establishing financing mechanisms for artisanal, small scale and large scale mining. It is hoped that the new policy will further improve mineral revenue collection and management and usher in a transparent competitive bidding system.

UCMP’s Chairman, Elly Karuhanga, welcomed the review as part of the continuous efforts by government to create a favourable environment for investment in extractives.

“The review of the laws and regulations for the mining sector, removal of taxes on exploration for oil, gas and mining investments and the continued energy and infrastructure development efforts are all the much needed interventions to address the bottlenecks in our sector,” Karuhanga told the meeting.

Karuhanga also hailed government for heeding calls by UCMP to reconsider the ban on mineral exports, which he said had affected the sector. President Yoweri Museveni lifted the ban in August this year.

SOURCE: Oil In Uganda

The Ministry of energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) is in the process of reviewing the mining legislation. Consultative meetings to review the Mineral Policy, Law and taxation are being held to collect ideas and other necessary input.  

With technical Assistance and support of the World Bank, the Ministry has compiled the views of selected Ministries and Government agencies and those of the Industry, Civil Society and other Stakeholders in form of a Green Paper for the Minerals and Mining Policy for Uganda.

It summarizes the problem, issues and needs of stakeholders. The revised document will then be put on the MEMD website for public comments. The Ministry is now preparing a Cabinet Memorandum to submit the Policy revision proposal and policy principles to cabinet to take a decision for approval.

 Mining in Uganda

Uganda lies within the African plate, which is a continental crust that contains Archaean cratons that date at least 2700 Ma. The country’s geology is endowed with a wide variety of minerals.

Mining involves extracting and processing economically valuable minerals. Many minerals are mined in Uganda, including gold, tin, gemstones, limestone, clay, salt and stone aggregate.

However most bits of mining are carried out by artisanal miners who are not well equipped. There is no commonly accepted definition of artisanal and small scale mining (ASM), because it can have very different characteristics at every site!

The country's mining history is recorded in the 1920s with work done at southwest Uganda's tin and tungsten deposits. In the following decade, gold mining began near Busia.

In the 1950s, the Kilembe copper mine was developed and it became the country's largest mine. The 1950s and 1960s was an important phase for mining when it had a 30 percent contribution to the total exports of the nation.

During the late 1980s, laying of roads led to increase in demand for construction material. The National Mining Commission was formed in 1988. North Korea financed the Ugandan government's project to rehabilitate the Kilembe copper mine.