By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Uganda on Saturday inaugurated the Wagagai Gold Mining Project located in the country’s Busia District, which authorities say is a transformative milestone that will end the “wasteful” export of raw minerals and usher the East African country into a new era of value addition.
The landlocked nation, which has a variety of minerals including copper, cobalt and iron ore, wants to expand its mining industry and position itself as a major gold producer and exporter.
According to central bank data, Uganda earned $3.4 billion last year from gold exports, representing about 37% of the country’s total export revenue.
During the commissioning, President Yoweri Museveni congratulated the Chinese firm, Wagagai Mining (U) Co., Ltd. for establishing a state-of-the-art refinery capable of producing 99.99% pure gold, noting that for decades Uganda only exported blister copper which was not pure enough for direct use and had to be refined abroad before being re-imported.
He said this cycle was a loss to the country and praised Wagagai for being able to purify gold to 99.99% purity.
“I want to thank Wagagai for listening to my message from the beginning and fully processing the gold. Uganda will get more money,” he noted.
He cautioned that exporting raw materials amounts to cheating Uganda and urged artisanal miners to work with Wagagai so that their gold can be refined locally instead of being sold unprocessed.
He added that refined gold can now be used in jewellery, electronics, and other industries and thanked Wagagai for being a “residential teacher” by helping others learn from its example.
The plant, which has started operations, is expected to process 5,000 tons of gold ore per day and produce about 1.2 metric tons of refined gold a year, a statement from the President’s office says. That is a significant increase from the country’s total domestic production of just 0.0042 tons in 2023.
Museveni added that Uganda will use the revenue generated by exporting gold to develop assets such as power stations and the country’s railway.
He said, “In order to wake up in the minerals sector, we must have full value addition for all minerals like gold, lithium, tin among others. Why? Because we get more money, it creates more jobs, and it consumes more electricity.”
