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.
The minister Ministry Of Energy and Mineral Development Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa early in June made a mad dash to Busoga sub region on the request of the Prime Minister (PM) Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja.
The energy minister was directed by the PM in May to rush to the districts of Bugweri, Mayuge and Bugiri in Busoga where the country discovered Rare Earth Metals (REM) & Rare Earth Elements (REE) largely referred to as Rare Earths – minerals that are driving the global Fourth Industrial Revolution – to respond to unnerving queries being raised by residents.
Good & Rare Natural Wealth Potential
When government confirmed the existence of the Rare Earths, it went out looking for investors with the knowledge, skills, finances and capacity to extract these minerals. Rwenzori Rare Metals (RRM) Limited, whose majority shareholder is Ionic Rare Earths Limited, an Australian company, was given an exploration license in 2010. Rwenzori Rare Metals is owned by Ionic Rare Earths (51%), Rare Earth Elements Africa (42%) and unnamed Ugandan Partners (7%).
Through the Makuutu Rare Earths Project, a project covering about 37kms across the districts of Bugweri, Mayuge, Bugiri and Iganga, Rwenzori Rare Metals has been establishing a significant ion adsorption clay deposit that ranks among the largest ionic clay deposits outside China. Exploration results put Rwenzori Rare Metals' discovery at 532 million tonnes of ore containing rare earth elements. The company said a review has been conducted to establish further exploration potential in the next 12 months.
The chief executive officer of Rwenzori Rare Metals, Mr Warren Tregurtha, anticipates that commercial production will start in the first quarter of 2024. He said they are applying for a mining license and want land access to start.
The Need For Massive Land
The company has invested in excess of $10m and once commercial production starts; the project will have the potential to attract another investment portfolio of about $100m.The Makuutu Rare Earth Project is one of the few clay deposits that contain high concentrations of heavy and critical metals necessary for strong magnets and other modern technology.
But like all big money mining projects, they require land – and for the rare earth minerals in Busoga, the mining companies and government will not only require access to land from the community for exploration but also total take over for mining when the time come. For now, the company is planning and laying the ground for that. This means that people will lose land and get displaced from their ancestral homes. Basically, the social setting of people in the larger part of Busoga will be altered in a manner that is irreversible.
Government Distant, Creating No Awareness
Some of the fears rising amongst the communities in the three districts were raised on the floor of parliament by Bugweri district Woman Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Rachel Magoola. As a people's representative, Hon. Magoola alerted parliament that government was not visible in the communities to educate the residents about rare earth minerals and the presence of an alien company. The MP said there were also potential land conflicts brewing due to potential sale of land purported to host the rare minerals.
“The locals have been given a timeline of one month to sign MoUs of their land to an organization which they are worried about. My prayer is that the ministry comes out and introduces these people officially,” she told parliament in May this year. On the intensified community engagements by Rwenzori Rare Metals Limited, the MP said: “It is causing a lot of anxiety and families are fighting against each other over the idea that land is going to be sold for a lot of money. We need protection of the community from this company.”
Land Conflict Fears Raised
Rwenzori Rare Metals recently intensified geological mapping activities something that created fear among communities. Landowners now fear that they are going to be evicted from their own land without being compensated. Speculators are brokering land sale deals in anticipation for higher returns from compensations.
Ms. Jane Nalongo, 30, a resident of Buwaaya Parish in Mayuge District told Uganda Radio Network (URN) that her siblings are being forcefully evicted by the Sub County chief backed by security operatives after their land was illegally surveyed.
The Local Council One chairperson of Makuutu village in Bugweri Sub County, Mr. Jamada Kasisa, says the brokers, mainly government officials, are on rampage forcing residents to sell off their land arguing that the government will take over their land without compensation.
The Makuutu Rare Earth Project community liaison officer, Mr. Sarah Ntono, recently told journalists in Bugiri that the company is engaging communities to create awareness and that people shouldn't worry. She also revealed that after positive exploration results being achieved in Bugweri, Bugiri and Mayuge, they are expanding to Iganga districts.
To suppress these fears, minister Nankabirwa reassured the Project Affected Persons that government is undertaking the due legal diligence that will be followed to ensure residents are compensated. She disclosed that her ministry is yet to engage government valuers to agree on the compensations.
Uganda became an overnight celebrity in the world of gold miners and traders when President Yoweri Museveni during this year’s State Of The Nation address on 7th June said the country had discovered a deposit of 31 million tonnes of gold ore in Busia district.
The revelation by the president attracted mixed reactions from members of the public and especially miners and gold traders. The president, confident as always, also said that the country would earn more than $12 trillion.
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) spokesperson Mr Solomon Muyita told Reuters that an estimated 320,158 tonnes of refined gold could be extracted from the 31 million tonnes of ore. In Uganda, gold deposits are found in Karamoja sub-region and districts Busia, Bugiri, Namayingo, Kasanda, Buhweju and Bushenyi.
Unbelievable 31 Million Tonnes
To many industry players, the president’s disclosure was laughable and didn’t sit well with them. Mr. Don Bwesigye, a mineral & energy policy analyst, in an article published in the Daily Monitor newspaper, disputed the president's gold figures based on statistics from the US Geological Surveys.
The Surveys, according to Mr. Bwesigye, indicate that 244,000 metric tonnes of gold, the equivalent of 268,400 tonnes of gold, have been discovered in the world to date, of which 187,000 metric tonnes (205,700 tonnes) have so far been produced, leaving a balance of 57,000 metric tonnes (62,700 tonnes) of known reserves.
"This implies that Uganda’s gold discoveries surpass global gold discoveries by 115.5 times. Did the President confuse ounces with tonnes,” Mr Bwesigye questioned in the article.
The Wagagai Factor & Optimism
The government launched the construction of a gold refinery on 7th October 2021, under the management of Wagagai Mining Company Limited, a Chinese company with a vast gold mine in Busia, eastern Uganda.
According to reports, the company owns the gold mining right of 9.24sq km in Busia and about 20m tonnes of gold ore resources. The Refinery will occupy 300 acres of land covering Alupe, Akipenet, Amagoro and Amonikakine villages in Buteba Sub County valued at $200m.
Rising & Falling Gold Exports
Uganda registered a surge in gold trade in FY2020/21 due to, among others, Uganda’s improvement in refinery capacity which translated into becoming the regional gold-processing hub.
Mineral products registered the highest import growth in FY2020/21 (US$ 2169.16 million) from US$ 1,093.29 million in FY2019/20. Gold accounted for 90 percent of the growth.
However, in FY2021/22, the country registered a decline in import receipts from US$640.95 million in Q4 FY2019/20 to US$53.06 million, US$57.76 million, and US$54.24 million in Q1, Q2, and Q3 respectively. This is attributed to the introduction of a new tariff on gold exports in FY2021/22.
Better Data To Stop Illicit Gold Trade
Since Uganda got a gold refinery in Entebbe, its gold exports have been rising. Industry pundits say the gold mining activity in Uganda dominated by artisanal mining was insufficient to match the exports.
It was highly thought that Uganda was being used as a route for illicit gold trade from DR Congo. And indeed, early this year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), sanctioned Mr. Alain Goetz, the African Gold Refinery in Uganda, and a network of companies involved in the illicit movement of gold valued at hundreds of millions of dollars per year from DR Congo.
According to a report by the United Nations independent group of experts on Congo, governments need to improve and make public their gold trade data to help stem smuggling and violence around mines in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Mineral Development Programme
The government of Uganda is running the Mineral Development Programme whose goal is to increase the exploitation and value addition to selected resources for job-rich industrialization.
The government under the mineral development programme increased exploration and quantification of priority mineral resources, and commissioned a gold mine in Busia district on 5th October 2021, with reserves estimated at 12.5 million ounces of mineable gold (equivalent to US$16 billion in gold reserves).
The government also conducted an evaluation of mineral reserves, conducted aerial and geological mapping, as well as Geochemical and Geophysical Surveys of Karamoja region, and in December 2021, Samta Mining and Minerals Ltd started exploratory drilling of Nickel mineralization at Atiak in Amuru District.
The gentle cool breeze from Lake Victoria welcomes you to Buhere landing site, Bukana Sub County in Namayingo district, eastern Uganda. The breeze further tames the early February afternoon sunshine that had proved to be a menace as our two-wheeler motor navigated through the bumpy but motorable murram feeder roads in rural Namayingo.
While the lake breeze was welcoming, the piercing sounds of men working the machines in the rocky hill that lay above the landing site, the Buhere Mines, was representative of the emerging mining economic activity that is fast replacing fishing and agriculture.
Many residents in Bugiri and Namayingo districts abandoned farming for gold mining but a surge in COVID-19 hindered their mining activities.
Namayingo like many other rural districts in Uganda is dependent on agriculture, fishing and petty trade. This is fast changing ever since the district became a gold mining hub. But this rapid transformation was put to a halt when COVID19 pandemic, an alien virus disease hit the world in 2019 and in early 2020 brought Uganda to its knees.
No more gold rush
In Namayingo, as President Yoweri Museveni on 18th March 2020 suspended mass gatherings and announced quarantining of incoming travelers, in what was the beginning of the many stringent measures to curb the spread of the new virus, residents of little Buhere didn’t know that their burgeoning mining trade was bound to stall for more than two years.
“It was a difficult time. Miners, those who had come from far towns, left. The prices fell. There was no one who was buying gold because transport had been cut off. To date, we are yet to recover,” Mr. George Mina, the vice chairperson of Buhere village, told Earthfinds during an interview inside his wattle office.
But gold miners in Namayingo and Bugiri districts, especially the natives, were defiant and often ignored the restricted movements, social gatherings, night curfews and the lockdown to go down in the pits to look for gold.
The local authorities, including police, were understanding and never really applied the strong arm of the law. The undoing at the time was the lack of buyers, this worsened the situation.
Ms. Mariam Rose a native of Buhere lamented that farming is fast becoming insufficient and unable to support her family of eight. The single mother who we found crushing stones in the gold mines said that the land she has is not enough to enable her grow surplus food.
She, therefore, comes to the mines where she works as a laborer so she can earns about Shs10, 000 daily to financially provide for herself, her children’s feeding and education.
The COVID-19 pandemic kept many women in Buhere from working in the mines and the relaxation of the COVID-19 restriction came as a blessing.
She is not the only woman in the expanding mines. Many like her own no pits. They are employed as laborers to earn a day’s wage. Many of the women were just returning to Buhere to work after the forced pause caused by the pandemic. They pound away the stones to crush them into small sizes before they are turned into dust and ‘washed’ to sieve out gold.
Mr. Mina said that miners who are indigenous residents, like Ms. Rose, would sneak and go to look for gold in the rocky pits but there was no market for their find. But whenever the lockdowns relaxed the gold buyers who came to the village would give them low prices.
Another female miner in Buhere said social distancing ensured that very few people worked in the mines. The curfew also made them to leave the mines early and not work the night shift.
Also, working in the mines is laboring and require proper breathing but the masks were detrimental yet the local authorities, according to Mr. Mina, ensured every person who entered the mines wore a mask.
Lost revenue for local government
The story is not any different in the gold mines in Bugiri. Those who managed to access the mines had nowhere and nobody to sell their gold too. The gold production plummeted, incomes crushed and life was hard.
Mr. Hussein Lwanga, the acting head of natural resources department in Bugiri district in an interview confirmed that when the economy was closed, the buyers couldn’t reach the sites.
“The miners had the products but the buyers were not accessible. This led to miners to shift from gold mining to sand mining and stone quarrying. It largely affected miners income; they were not earning,” he explained.
This pinch was also felt by the district revenue collection department. Mr. Lwanga said: “. Also, because the mining in the area is still rudimentary, revenue collection is tricky. You cannot track their output, so we lost out completely. We also couldn't move into mines to track their production because of the lockdown. Actually, during the pandemic, we realized nothing in terms of revenues.”
Local governments are by law supposed to get loyalties from the miners but because most miners are artisanal and rudimentary, district fail to track the miners down since they are not well streamlined.
Low prices for gold
At Budde gold mining site, a handful of young men were active. A site that usually accommodates over 300 miners and dealers, you could barely count 30. Those we found onsite said there colleagues had not yet return from the forced COVID19 break.
Yokosadi, in his mid-30s, decried the low prices and the lack of market for their gold despite risking all to come and work.
“What we used to sell at Shs15, 000, you would get it at Shs8, 000. They were no buyers. Those who had special vehicles going to Kampala were few and they would give us low prices,” the soft speaking man said of the bad business at the time in March.
Many miners in Namayingo vacated the mines and only returned when the COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed.
Mr. William Musinguzi, the site manager of Acorn Mining Company also operating inside the gold mine at Budde revealed that they witnessed the price falling from Shs150, 000 per gram to as low as Shs100, 000. As a manager representing the interests of the investor, this was bad business.
But with the opening up of the economy, business is coming back to life. Yokosadi said that the price has started going up. Now, a point goes for Shs15, 000. By the time of publishing this report, it could have gone higher.
Strict rules in Mubende
In Bugiri and Namayingo, like everyone in the communities, the miners heed to the call to observe the Standard Operating Procedures something that they say helped them not to register any COVID19 cases in Namayingo.
“We were clean and keen. We had water and soap. Visitors first reported to our chairman”, a miner at Budde said as he ‘washed’ the soils in quest for gold.
Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, stubborn miners in parts of Bugiri and Namayingo would sneak into the mines and look for the minerals.
But in Mubende and Kasanda, the strictness was tough that some miners runaway and found their way to Bugiri.
Mr. Henry Batuma is a Mubende based gold miner and dealer but because of the strict COVID19 rules in central Uganda, he sought refuge in Bugiri district where work was still going on.
Mr. Baguma's other reason for relocating to Namayingo is that government had closed their mine, but now that COVID had subsided, he was planning to relocate to Kasanda.
Silence in Tororo
Stone quarrying is a big mining business in Tororo district and has helped Tororo town boom. But even before the Tororo stone quarry contractors, a company owned by Israeli got issues with Tororo Cement, their main customers leading to its closure in 2021, the miners there had already felt the punch of COVID19.
Mr. Sam Mugabi was a contracted driver in the stone quarry but due to downsizing and the restrictions due to COVID19, many miners had lost their jobs even before the quarrel between the Israeli firm and Tororo Cement.
Like many minerals, the prices of the stones fell down from a Shs150, 000 a tonne to Shs100, 000 or less.
Not bad business for development minerals
Unlike gold, COVID19 presented a mini boom in the real estate business, the biggest consumers of sand, stones and rocks.
At Bubugo Kirongo Stone Quarrying site, a few kilometers from Bugiri town, the miners who embraced the midday heat when we arrived, said that because schools were closed, some parents turned to constructing houses and other projects something that brought them customers.
“As you know, businesses are connected to each other; if a food vendor doesn’t make sales, another business will struggle. So sometimes we would not get customers but here business was not entirely bad,” Mr. Fred Kasambira, wearing a yellow glove in his left palm to protect him from the pricks of the stone, said.
Miners in Bugiri said there was demand for building materials like quarry stones as people used the pandemic to construction projects.
Dennis, a youthful miner in a fading vest told this reporter in Kirongo that the period of COVID19 was full of uncertainty. “For a man like me with a family, that was a hard time not to have a daily income. Now that we have resumed, I am not sure if I will make enough money to send my children back to school,"
Dennis’ school fees worry is shared by many of his colleague. And it is not just schools fees to send their children back but now their-would be customers were prioritizing and saving every penny they earn to prepare for the schools opening. This means fewer customers for men and women in Kirongo quarry that employs over 400 miners.
Originally not a miner before COVID19 struck, Ms. Hadijah Mutesi says the pandemic drove her to the stone quarry so as to earn a living and take care of her family. Unfamiliar with the stone breaking, the stones tear her fingers’ skin but she has no option but to work.
"When COVID19 started in 2020, my previous business ended and I returned to the village. I have children and grandchildren who need to feed and they will need to go to school when they open. The children also need medication," an elderly Ms. Mutesi says sweating as she smashes more hardcore into tiny pieces.
Mr. Nambiro Fred Bazibu, also of Kirongo complained of the health risks involved in their trade. He then called on government to support them by providing them with machines that can easy their work.
In Nyamuriro village, Muko Sub County, Rubanda district, Mzee Kabwekye, Byamukama and Jasper have agonizing tales to tell. These wolfram miners, when the mines closed to avert the spread of the deadly disease had to find relocate to other places and jobs.
In Particular, Jasper travelled as far as Buganda in search of work abandoning his family back home. In Buganda, the situation was not any different and he couldn’t return home due to the lockdown.
Byabakama said: “Our lives depended on these mines to provide for our families but when the mines were closed because of COVID19, we had to go and look for work elsewhere but the situation was not good. Even after the reopening, the situation is not good,”
Not that miners who stayed in Rubanda were any better than Jasper, Mzee Kabwekye said: “What we reaped from COVID19 is poverty. Some people don't have to drink and waste their life.” And now he wants government to help because they are out of work.
In Hamurwa Town Council, Rubanda district, iron ore miner reported that buyers of their iron ore ran away with their money when COVIDq9 lockdown was announced.
Ms. Scorah Tukahigwa said they formed an association they called Kigezi Iron Ore Miners which they used as a collective voice to demand from an ‘investor’ called Mr. Moses Kamuntu. But even with the numbers of the association, Mr. Kamuntu didn’t pay them.
Now that they have resumed work, they have the iron ore but no buyers, Mr. Kamuntu has not returned. We want government to get buyers of our iron ore, she pleaded in the interview.
For Lawrence, the COVID19 experience is gruesome. “We got very many challenges when COVID19 came. We failed to get money to pay workers. Because we hadn’t paid them, they couldn’t support their families. Actually very many families broke up.
We used to pay our worker weekly but when COVID19 came, we failed to get money; we went to the bank and we failed to pay the loans, the banks took our properties. Some people ran away because of the banks.”
But for Ms. Tukahigwa, COVID19 didn’t pass without a lesson being learnt. She said: “During the period of COVID, we learnt how to save. The little we had, we saved it. We also learnt to enter into contracts; this helps us not to be cheated.”
"Export duties are a crude tool to achieve value addition objectives when applied to licensed upstream mines because they will result in less upstream mining," Sir. Richard Kaijuka, Chairman, Board of Trustees, UCMP told the parliamentary committee.
UCMP met the parliamentary committee on environment & natural resources to discuss core issues & concerns in the Mining & Minerals Bill 2021
"If export duties are used, they should be restricted to mid-stream activities where the main objective is to raise revenues on minerals that were produced w/o paying royalties e.g. Artisanal gold," he explained further.
Adding: "A mining law that requires a mining company to do midstream value addition fails to understand that most mining companies do not have the expertise, capital, and scale to do mid-stream processing,"
Jervois Global Country Head, Dr. Jennifer Hinton. "Uganda is an unknown jurisdiction to most investors which is viewed as high risk but what investors are looking for among others; security of tenure, stability- considering 6-10yrs from greenfields to discovery of a deposit." pic.twitter.com/kQMHZcejct
— Uganda Chamber of Mines & Petroleum (@UgandaChamber) December 14, 2021
On the raw minerals export ban, Sir Kaijuka said the very companies the government should be looking to support are getting harmed. “We need to be systematic in order to help the sector grow sustainably," he said.
Sir Kaijuka submitted that Uganda needs to position herself as competitive & with a stable & robust regulatory framework particularly because it's a country that is not known as a mining destination.
Civil society organizations Bio Vision Africa and Western Media for Environment and Conservation (WEMECO) are calling on National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to quickly draft and develop legislation and regulations that will ban the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, sale and use of paints that contain lead concentrations exceeding 90 ppm, the most restrictive standard in the world.
The organizations want NEMA to require paint companies to display sufficient information indicating toxic content on paint can labels and provide a warning on possible lead dust hazards when distributing painted surfaces.
"Paint companies that still produce lead paints should expeditiously stop the use of leaded paint ingredients in paint formulations. Paint companies that have shifted to non-lead paint production should get their products certified through independent, third party verification procedures to increase the customer’s ability to choose paints with no added lead," the two organization said in a joint statement.
They advised that the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) should routinely carry out assessment of lead paint from different outlets and factories.
The call from the two CSOs has come at a time when the world is marking the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action (ILPPWA). This year's commemoration kicked of on 24th and will end on 30 October under the theme “Working together for a world without lead paint”
The week is used to raise awareness and promote actions to address the human health effects of lead exposure, especially for children. During the week, governments, academia, industry and civil society promote efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning, and specifically laws to eliminate lead in paint.
The term Lead paint is used to describe any paint to which one or more lead compounds have been added. The cut-off concentration for lead paint used in the report is 90 parts per million (ppm, dry weight of paint), the strictest legal limit enacted in the world today.
Civil Society has previously carried out studies to assess the levels of lead in paint that is produced in Uganda. Lead is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems and is particularly harmful to young children.
Lead in the body is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney and bones. It is stored in the teeth and bones, where it accumulates over time. Human exposure is usually assessed through the measurement of lead in blood.
Lead in bone is released into blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing fetus. There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects.
People can become exposed to lead through occupational and environmental sources – like inhalation of lead particles generated by burning materials containing lead, for example during smelting, recycling, stripping leaded paint and using leaded aviation fuel and ingestion of lead-contaminated dust, water (from leaded pipes) and food (from lead-glazed or lead-soldered containers).
“Bio Vision Africa and WEMECO call upon all stakeholders to come together and unite in promoting a strong policy that will eliminate lead paint in Uganda. Public health groups, consumer organizations and all other concerned entities to support the elimination of lead paint, and conduct activities to inform and protect children from lead exposure through lead paint, lead in dust and soil, and other sources of lead," the CSOs said.
On many occasions the government of Uganda has clashed with miners and mineral dealers for selling the country’s natural resources in their raw form. Indeed the government has in the past severely tasked miners to put in place mechanisms that add value to the vast minerals extracted in the country. Extremely, government some years ago banned the export of iron ore, wolfram, copper and other minerals in their raw form a thing that didn’t go well with miners and mineral dealers.
The government stand has always promoted value addition, at least via policy talk. This, the miners and dealers say is not a bad thing but barely achievable going by the investment government has put in place to achieve this. Miners say government itself lacks the capacity to add value to the minerals yet they expect miners, including artisanal small scale miners (ASM), to do so. ASMs in Uganda operate rudimentary with limited capital or investment.
Speaking on the second day of this year’s annual mineral wealth conference virtually organized by Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP) Emmanuel Kibirige, the national coordinator of Uganda Association of Artisanal and Small Scale Miners (UGAASM), noted that proper mining as desired by government is capital intensive yet government is not rendering them with incentives to enable them up their game.
"If there is no capacity by government to add value to these minerals, how do you expect the miners to do it? Some of these miners don't even know what the minerals they are mining will be used for. So you (government) find a way of adding value, they will provide you with the raw materials (minerals),” Kibirige told the e-conference, emphasizing that it is wrong to ‘put it to the miners to create a system that adds value.’
In equal measure, Kibirige explained that while artisanal and small scale mining requires huge sums in terms of capital, ASMs are unable to secure funding from commercial banks or the mining companies and mineral dealers largely because they operate informally and are not well structured. He said they need to ‘partner with people in the value chain to support artisanal miners.”
On the issue of government financially supporting the ASMs, David Sebagala, the senior inspector of mines at Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in the Directorate of Geological survey and Mines agrees with Kibirige saying that gross underfunding of the sector is a major challenge to bringing ASMs onboard. “If you compare government allocation for mineral development & the Oil & Gas sector, the statistics are shocking, the mineral subsector funding isn’t even a third of the O&G sector funding," Sebagala noted.
Adding: "90% of the minerals produced in Uganda are produced by the ASMs. To reap from it, we need adequate investment which brings us back to creating an attractive investment environment and protecting that same investment in country. That is the only way to grow the ASMs."
Uganda, despite having a humongous mineral potential, with many industry players saying it can earn the country more money that the much hyped Oil and Gas, has barely received government attention and investment. A new mining law is being devised to improve the sector, organize ASMs and attract investment from moneyed international mining companies.
Transiting from the use of mercury to a more user-friendly, less harmful and productive methodology of using borax in artisanal gold mining is still slow among artisanal miners especially in Kasanda district.
Despite some of them knowing the harmful impacts of mercury, their mindset is still stuck to the fact that mercury is still the best alternative, perhaps due to lack of enough sensitization on alternative choices.
“I used to work in Mulago National Referral Hospital as a technician before coming here in the mines. We used to ensure that mercury is not poorly exposed because of its harmful impacts on someone’s health.
But when I came here, I found people touching, inhaling and even pouring it on the ground which is very dangerous. But because most of us miners are here to make money for our children, we are aware that we shall not live long but shall leave the families happy,” said Wasswa Ssekalye, 52, a gold miner in Saigon City site in Kitumbi Sub County, Kasanda district.
With the efforts to change this mindset and promote mercury-free gold mining, National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) organized a learning exchange and experience sharing where experienced artisan mining trainers who have used borax method in Buhweju and Namayingo districts trained their counterparts in Kasanda district.
NAPE, which is working with support from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Uganda, a small grants program under United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on a project to raise awareness on the dangers associated with mercury, also disseminated awareness materials on sound chemical management to the miners and Kasanda district authorities.
The project also facilitated the construction of a demonstration site which will work as a training centre for artisanal miners in borax use in gold mining which is less harmful.
During the training, over 20 artisanal miners were trained in Borax technology so that they are able to train others in Kitumbi-Kayonza Gold Mining site which brings together over 500 artisanal miners registered under Kitumbi-Kayonza Gold Miners Association (KKMA) in Kitumbi sub county Kasanda district.
Mr. Sande Patrick, an artisanal mining trainer from Namayingo district, said he was ignorantly using mercury to extract gold from iron ore not knowing its negative impacts on health and environment until 2014.
“I started using mercury in 2009 when I joined artisanal gold mining. We used to get challenges like corrosive skin, headache and general body weaknesses not knowing that it’s as a result of absorption of mercury into our bodies,” Mr. Sande told artisanal miners during the training.
He adds: “However, when we met NAPE in 2014, we were sensitized about the dangers of mercury and trained in borax use as an alternative and since then we have never looked back. A few of us who were trained have been able to train others and we have slowly phased out mercury use in Namayingo because we need a life.”
Ms. Jane Ahimbisibwe, another artisanal trainer from Buhweju district said for the time she has been using borax she has observed that the gold recovery from iron ore is high and is readily available in the market since it is not illegal like mercury.
“As women, we are the ones who normally move with children to the mines, who inhale mercury vapour when pregnant and this puts our children’s growth at stake. It's better we spearhead this campaign against mercury use,” she said during the training.
The miners expressed willingness to switch to the use of borax but called for more training to learn the methodology better.
“We need more training for the miners to get acquainted with borax technology. And when we know the big number has been trained, it will give us a basis of fighting mercury in the mines as leaders,” said Mr. Ssempala Herbert Edward, the manager for Kitumbi-Kayonza Miners Association.
Mr. Ssempala hailed NAPE for coming up to train artisanal miners on alternative gold extraction.
“We shall ensure that everyone gets trained and from there it will help us to phase out mercury knowing that everyone has knowledge on the alternative,” Mr. Ssempala said.
He, however, notes that the government is partly to blame for the weak laws to control mercury from being smuggled into the country and lack of enough sensitization on other methods to be used in gold extraction.
“Mercury is illegal in the country but we don’t know how it ends up here. KKMA is against Mercury use but how to control it is a problem. The government should help us by ensuring that it is not smuggled into the country and also promote other alternatives as we work together to promote mercury-free gold mining,” Ssempala says.
Mr. Peruth Atukwatse, the program officer in charge of Sound Chemical Management at NAPE said since the artisanal miner are organized, the association leaders should spearhead the fight against mercury use by embracing the opportunity of getting training on Borax use and slowly phasing out the use of mercury.
She also said the government should ensure that the Mining and Mineral Bill 2019 that is currently in draft form regulates chemicals that gold miners are using.
In this pursuit of eradicating the use of mercury, media support organizations have shown interest and willingness to participate in creating awareness and sensitizing communities using their platforms.
Mr. Akugizibwe Peter Araali, the executive director of Western Media for Environment and Conservation (WEMECO), a media organization that advocates for good nature and harmonious co-existence, said WEMECO will continue to sensitize mining communities on how bad mercury is to human life and the environment.
Mr. Akugizibwe called upon the government and other actors to translate important documents such as Minamata Convention on Mercury into local languages so that even people who do not fully understand English can be able to know the negative effects of such chemicals.
On 1st March 2019, Uganda became a signatory to Minamata Convention, the first global treaty that seeks to protect human health and the physical environment from mercury emissions and its release into the environment.
With Minamata Convention into force, there is a need to raise awareness on the dangers of mercury and promoting less harmful alternatives.
Karamoja is one of the regions in Uganda that is well endowed with a variety of mineral resources but artisanal miners in the area are saying that they are not benefiting instead mining companies that have invaded the area are the ones enjoying.
Indigenous groups are now advocating and calling for their involvement as they claim that most of the region’s minerals have been of a benefit to mostly outsiders.
"It is good that we are discussing issues of Karamoja in Karamoja. As a district, we struggle with big companies over loyalties. We need to have adequate answers,” Charles Oluba Kumakech, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Moroto district.
This and many other questions were raised on Wednesday during the Karamoja Region Stakeholders Engagement on EITI and Mining meeting that was organized by Global Rights Alert and partners under the theme “fostering regional development through mining”.
The meeting was attended by small scale artisanal miners, large scale investors, the district leadership and members of the press from mineral affected communities in Karamoja to discuss issues affecting them & the EITI standard. Uganda recently became a member of the EITI.
Karamoja has minerals like gold, limestone, uranium, marble, graphite, gypsum, iron, wolfram, nickel, copper, cobalt, lithium & tin but the communities have many unanswered questions regarding quantities of mineral deposits, revenues earned and the names of holders of mining licenses.
"The Karamoja region has a problem with perceptions in the community. One kilo of gold leaves Amudat district every month without being taxed. We need to start questioning what happens around us if we are to benefit from our minerals," Sophie Nangiro of Safer World Uganda said.
However, Gerald Eneku from the energy ministry explained that loyalties can only be remitted if there is documentation of the production of minerals. However, there is a challenge of traceability of loyalties because there is usually no clear report of how much companies produce," he said.
In response, miners in Karamoja said that since it is hard for landowners and local leaders to trace for these loyalties; the energy ministry that issues the mining licenses should do it because they know these people and how much they produce.
IMPACT's newest report reveals how the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) illicit gold trade continues to thrive despite efforts to clean up the sector.
Traders and exporters who are legally registered in the DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda are operating without apparent fear of sanction, even after being publicly named by the United Nations and international organizations year after year as contributing to the illicit trade of artisanal DRC gold.
In its latest report, "The Intermediaries: Traders Who Threaten the Democratic Republic of Congo's Efforts for Conflict-Free Gold," IMPACT documents how registered traders and exporters provide a sheen of legality by declaring a small percentage of their gold exports while pocketing massive profits from the illicit trade. They thwart attempts to disrupt their scheme by reconfiguring their operations across the region when necessary or by creating phantom entities.
This means that gold smuggled out of DRC and flowing onto the legal international gold market –into consumer products—is potentially tied to criminality, money laundering, armed groups, and human rights abuses.
"Much effort has been made to strengthen responsible artisanal gold trade in DRC, but as long as these shady intermediaries between the miners and the market operate with impunity, all such efforts are futile," said Joanne Lebert, IMPACT's Executive Director.
IMPACT found that despite efforts by the DRC government and international actors to introduce traceability and due diligence for artisanal gold supply chains in DRC, the illicit trade appears to be booming: only a fraction of gold production is exported legally, meaning, declared to authorities with all duties and taxes paid.
The report uses several case studies to illustrate the extent of the problem, including that of Bukavu-based Cavichi SARL, a licensed exporter from 2013-2016:
Between 2015-2016, Cavichi SARL exported 25.7 kg as declared to DRC authorities, but 5,290 kg as declared to Rwandan authorities in transit documents.
Cavichi SARL significantly undervalued its exports, with the 5,290 kg having a declared value of $17.3 million USD whereas international market value at the time would place it closer to $191.5 million USD.
Though the company closed down, its founder Caetano Victor Chibalonza continues to operate as a gold trader.
IMPACT's investigation also takes a closer look at Rwanda as a transit point for DRC gold and the recent growth in Rwandan gold exports. Research suggests Rwandan authorities are failing in their due diligence on gold entering from DRC into Rwanda.
These failings are demonstrated by the case of two phantom entities, Congo Golden Mining Ltd and Omega Gold Mining Ltd:
Responsible for 18 gold shipments totalling 627 kg from 2015-2016, Congo Golden Mining Ltd and Omega Gold Mining Ltd are phantom entities that only appear in Rwandan transit documents.
Rwandan authorities failed to pick up on fake or suspect documentation such as the vague address, "Building Dubai, UAE", listed for the phantom entity Al Haitham DMCC, the supposed buyer for Congo Golden Mining Ltd's gold shipments.
Artisanal mining is often poverty-driven and economic incentives to operate through illicit channels remain great. While some traders and exporters see the benefit of working with traceability and due diligence schemes, those described in this IMPACT report have no incentive to do so.
In light of its conclusion that traceability and due diligence systems for DRC gold cannot make a dent in the scale of illicit trade until the intermediaries' systems are dismantled, IMPACT is calling on the Government of the DRC to:
Investigate, bring to account, and expose well-known intermediaries, including by revoking or denying any trading, exporting, or refining licenses of individuals and companies tied to the illicit trade
Streamline the steps for legal gold exports, ensuring they are clear and not arduous, and that related costs do not discourage legal trade
"This is the moment to bring the intermediaries out of the shadows. For too long, they have been allowed to get away with gaming the system. Never has it been clearer than now, with COVID-19, how these traders profit off of miners' vulnerability. Authorities must act to halt their operations," said Joanne Lebert, IMPACT's Executive Director.
IMPACT also calls on the Governments of Rwanda and Uganda to foster cooperation between law enforcement agencies to identify trade discrepancies and enhance regulatory controls on any gold that is declared as DRC gold.
IMPACT's newest report reveals how the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) illicit gold trade continues to thrive despite efforts to clean up the sector.
Traders and exporters who are legally registered in the DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda are operating without apparent fear of sanction, even after being publicly named by the United Nations and international organizations year after year as contributing to the illicit trade of artisanal DRC gold.
In its latest report, "The Intermediaries: Traders Who Threaten the Democratic Republic of Congo's Efforts for Conflict-Free Gold," IMPACT documents how registered traders and exporters provide a sheen of legality by declaring a small percentage of their gold exports while pocketing massive profits from the illicit trade. They thwart attempts to disrupt their scheme by reconfiguring their operations across the region when necessary or by creating phantom entities.
This means that gold smuggled out of DRC and flowing onto the legal international gold market –into consumer products—is potentially tied to criminality, money laundering, armed groups, and human rights abuses.
"Much effort has been made to strengthen responsible artisanal gold trade in DRC, but as long as these shady intermediaries between the miners and the market operate with impunity, all such efforts are futile," said Joanne Lebert, IMPACT's Executive Director.
IMPACT found that despite efforts by the DRC government and international actors to introduce traceability and due diligence for artisanal gold supply chains in DRC, the illicit trade appears to be booming: only a fraction of gold production is exported legally, meaning, declared to authorities with all duties and taxes paid.
The report uses several case studies to illustrate the extent of the problem, including that of Bukavu-based Cavichi SARL, a licensed exporter from 2013-2016:
Between 2015-2016, Cavichi SARL exported 25.7 kg as declared to DRC authorities, but 5,290 kg as declared to Rwandan authorities in transit documents.
Cavichi SARL significantly undervalued its exports, with the 5,290 kg having a declared value of $17.3 million USD whereas international market value at the time would place it closer to $191.5 million USD.
Though the company closed down, its founder Caetano Victor Chibalonza continues to operate as a gold trader.
IMPACT's investigation also takes a closer look at Rwanda as a transit point for DRC gold and the recent growth in Rwandan gold exports. Research suggests Rwandan authorities are failing in their due diligence on gold entering from DRC into Rwanda.
These failings are demonstrated by the case of two phantom entities, Congo Golden Mining Ltd and Omega Gold Mining Ltd:
Responsible for 18 gold shipments totalling 627 kg from 2015-2016, Congo Golden Mining Ltd and Omega Gold Mining Ltd are phantom entities that only appear in Rwandan transit documents.
Rwandan authorities failed to pick up on fake or suspect documentation such as the vague address, "Building Dubai, UAE", listed for the phantom entity Al Haitham DMCC, the supposed buyer for Congo Golden Mining Ltd's gold shipments.
Artisanal mining is often poverty-driven and economic incentives to operate through illicit channels remain great. While some traders and exporters see the benefit of working with traceability and due diligence schemes, those described in this IMPACT report have no incentive to do so.
In light of its conclusion that traceability and due diligence systems for DRC gold cannot make a dent in the scale of illicit trade until the intermediaries' systems are dismantled, IMPACT is calling on the Government of the DRC to:
Investigate, bring to account, and expose well-known intermediaries, including by revoking or denying any trading, exporting, or refining licenses of individuals and companies tied to the illicit trade
Streamline the steps for legal gold exports, ensuring they are clear and not arduous, and that related costs do not discourage legal trade
"This is the moment to bring the intermediaries out of the shadows. For too long, they have been allowed to get away with gaming the system. Never has it been clearer than now, with COVID-19, how these traders profit off of miners' vulnerability. Authorities must act to halt their operations," said Joanne Lebert, IMPACT's Executive Director.
IMPACT also calls on the Governments of Rwanda and Uganda to foster cooperation between law enforcement agencies to identify trade discrepancies and enhance regulatory controls on any gold that is declared as DRC gold.
