President Yoweri Museveni on Friday reaffirmed his government’s ban on exportation of unprocessed minerals from the country.
The President was commissioning the country’s first Tin Smelting factory in Ruti, Mbarara City making Uganda the fourth country to start the smelting of Tin in Africa.
The factory is East Africa’s third, making Uganda the 15th Tin processing country in the world. Other Tin producing countries in Africa are DRC, Rwanda, and Nigeria.
The others outside Africa are China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Congo, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Russia.
Tin is used to drive low-current electricity through devices for a small distance due to its versatility and resistance to corrosion and is used in electronic devices like smartphones, Laptops, Batteries, computers, and automotive industries among others.
During the factory commissioning, President Museveni reiterated the ban on exporting unprocessed minerals and warned that investors who refuse to add value to the minerals will not be allowed to export them.
He said that Uganda is going to earn twice from the processed Tin from 45,000 shillings a kilo of Tin to 120,000 shillings adding that the factory is going to create Jobs.
He said with the achievement, the focus is now going to change to looking for investors who will use the refined tin within the country.
Energy and Mineral Development Minister Ruth Nankabirwa confirmed that Uganda has in place all the necessary laws for mineral mining and warned that investors who don’t want to abide by the laws risk losing their licenses
She also cautioned non-serious investors with multiple licenses moving across the country without any serious discovery and mining that she would cancel their licenses.
Robert Mugabe Kakebezi, the Mbarara City Mayor pleaded with the President to allow them to exchange 152hectares of forest reserve owned by the National Forest Authority found in Kirehi cell with the City council land in Kakyera in Kiruhura district measuring 164 hectares to create an industrial park.
According to Omid Ameri, the Managing director of Wood-cross Resources, the factory will be refining the tin to 99.95 % purity which will be ready for use.
Ameri said the Woodcross resources refining plant has an annual capacity of more than 1,000 tonnes with its mining license covering 40 square km in the districts of Isingiro and Ntungamo.
