The machines at Uganda’s Kilembe mine, which fell silent more than three decades ago, are set to roar into life again, after the Chinese consortium that bought the mines announced copper production would restart in May.
Tibet Hima Mining, a consortium of Chinese companies that won a 25-year concession for the mine, in south-western Uganda, in 2013, says it is gearing up to restart copper and cobalt production and smelting after completing the rehabilitation of the operations.
Tibet Hima Mining deputy CEO Lu Guo says the consortium has completed the rehabilitation of the smelting, refining and production plants.
The consortium is investing $175-million in the project which was once a major economic backbone of the region before production came to an abrupt halt in 1982 owing to deteriorating security and a decline in copper prices. The investment also includes increasing power production at the Maluku power plant from 5 MW to 12 MW.
“We have been executing technical work on the mines and have completed most of the necessary rehabilitation of facilities. “We project to start production in May,” says Guo.
He adds that, besides rehabilitating some of the machines at the mine, the company has installed newer machines with a life span of at least 30 years and is in the process of renovating the roads and tunnels leading up to the mines, located on the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains, about 370 km south of the capital, Kampala.
According to Uganda’s Department Geological Survey and Mines, Kilembe had 4-million tons of copper and 5.5-million tons of cobalt reserves when it ceased production in 1982. By then, only 10% of the area believed to hold copper ore deposits had been explored.
The consortium, which includes Shanghai Baosteel Group and Chinalco Luoyang Copper, paid the Uganda government a signature fee of $4-million and will pay a yearly fee of $1.5-million for the next 25 years. Uganda will also benefit from statutory payments and taxes.