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Uganda Mining
Although the government recognized the existence of
several
commercially important mineral deposits, it had not
conducted
comprehensive exploration surveys for non-oil minerals
and,
therefore, lacked estimates of their size. In the early
1970s,
copper, tin, bismuth, tungsten, rare earths, phosphates,
limestone, and beryl were being mined by commercial
companies.
The mining sector employed 8,000 people and accounted for
9
percent of exports. By 1979 almost all mineral production
had
ceased, and in 1987 only the mining and quarrying sector
recorded
any growth. Mining output increased an estimated 20
percent,
largely because of the rapid growth in demand for road and
housing construction materials, such as sand and gravel.
In 1988
the government established a National Mining Commission,
intended
to encourage investment in the mining sector through joint
ventures with the government. This commission also
provided some
support for small mining operations. In early 1988, the
government introduced regulations of gold mining
operations that
gave the Bank of Uganda monopoly rights to buy gold mined
in the
country and to market gold at its discretion. In addition,
the
government initiated projects to rehabilitate the Kilembe
copper
mine and to extract cobalt from slag heaps at the mine at
a
combined cost of US$70 million. By late 1990, financing
had been
secured for preliminary rehabilitation of the mine's
facilities,
part of it from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(North
Korea). The French were involved in the cobalt venture;
plans
called for processing and export to France of at least
1,000 tons
per year once technology was in place.
Data as of December 1990
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