The government has officially lifted a ban on the issuance of prospecting and mining permits across the country, with licences now available for a total of 56 construction and industrial minerals, with an additional 14 licences designated as strategic minerals following Cabinet approval.
The minerals that have been approved include gold, manganese, titanium, gemstone, diorite, dolerite, granite granitoids, gravel, grewhacke, grit, gneiss, kunkar, laterite, migmatite, phyllite, phonolite, pyroclastics, quartzite, rhyolite, sandstone, among others.
Speaking at a press briefing, Mining Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said the construction and industrial minerals sector is poised for significant expansion with the availability of these licences.
He was highlighting that the minerals are fundamental to the development of infrastructure and manufacturing processes, playing a crucial role in various construction projects and industrial operations.
“We wish to inform you that the Moratorium has been lifted on all construction and industrial minerals and all other minerals have been classified as strategic minerals,” said Mr Mvurya.
Mr Mvurya also said his ministry had profiled illegal miners and mineral dealers with a view to shutting down all their operations.
Enforcement has been stepped up through the Regional Mining Offices, while he noted that Cabinet has approved the establishment of a special police unit within the ministry to enforce compliance with mining laws and regulations.
“Over 3000 illegal operations has been issued with stop orders. To enhance compliance, a special police unit shall be seconded to the State Department for Mining by the National Police Service,” he said.
In December 2019, the government took a significant step by imposing a moratorium on the issuance of licences across the country.
This strategic move was initiated to facilitate an extensive study aimed at comprehensively cataloguing the types of minerals present in the country, as well as their exact geographical location.
As a result, the government established an official registry that documents key details, including ownership, boundaries and the assessed value of land and mineral resources within specific regions.
Notably, Kenya has refrained from renewing existing licences since 2015, a year in which a significant number of companies had their permits revoked.
Those companies that have remained operational have been operating under the umbrella of a gazette notification, while licensees facing the expiration of their permits have been forced to seek special permission from the ministry.
He said a total of 1,546 licences did not meet the set conditions and would be declared inactive in due course.
He announced that Sh2.9 billion will be given to various counties as their rightful share of revenue from the mining sector in the 2023/2024 financial year.
"We will soon declare the 10 per cent share of revenue to the communities," he added.
Base, which started mining titanium ore in the country in 2013 and made its first shipment in February 2014, is keen to expand its operations further and has applied for three prospecting licences.
Its latest prospecting licence was for an area of 136 square kilometres in the Vanga region, towards the Kenya-Tanzania border at Lunga Lunga, which was approved by the Mineral Rights Board and issued in December 2018.
Last year, the total value of minerals produced in the country increased by 33 per cent from Sh22.7 billion to Sh30.2 billion.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in its Economic Survey 2022, this was driven by a 31.5 per cent increase in the value of titanium ore minerals from Sh19.5 billion to Sh25.6 billion in 2021.
