UGANDA’S MINERAL POTENTIAL – THE UNEXPLORED COUNTRY

UGANDA’S MINERAL POTENTIAL –
THE UNEXPLORED COUNTRY
JOSHUA T. TUHUMWIRE
COMMISSIONER
DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND MINES
Mines & Money Conference, London – 2008

Email:

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LOCATION

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GEOLOGY AND MINERAL OCCURENCES OF UGANDA

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GEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL
* SOME GEOINFORMATION AVAILABLE
* FAVOURABLE GEOLOGICAL SETTING
* METASEDIMENTS, INTRUSIVES AND
MAJOR STRUCTURES SUCH AS RIFTING & SHEARS
* GEOLOGY DOMINATED BY PRECAMBRIAN ROCKS
* AIRBORNE GEOPHYSICAL DATA COVERING NEARLY
80% OF COUNTRY
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GEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL cont’d
* VARIETY OF MINERALS: PRECIOUS, NONPRECIOUS & INDUSTRIAL
* GOLD, COPPER, COBALT, NICKEL, ZINC, LEAD,
TIN, BERYLLIUM, COL-TAN, PGM, BISMUTH,
LITHIUM
* LIMESTONE, MARBLE, PHOSPHATE, VERMICULITE
& SILICA SAND
* NUMEROUS OLD AND CURRENT ARTISANAL
WORKINGS
* POTENTIAL FOR WORLD-CLASS DISCOVERIES
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MAJOR GOLD TRENDS

UGANDA AT THE
CROSSROADS

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NEIGHBOURING GOLD DEPOSITS
Golden Pride
Golden Ridge
Bulyanhulu
Geita
Tulawaka
Kilo – Moto

Twangiza

Tanzania
Tanzania
Tanzania
Tanzania
Tanzania
DRC
DRC

1 M oz
1.6
16
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2
+4
+2
37.6 M oz

Predominantly in Lake Victoria Greenstone Belt
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STRATEGIES – MINERAL POLICY, 2001
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Mineral Resources Contribute to Development
Sector Development by Private Participation
Minimize Social and Environmental Impact
Develop Local Capacity
Regularize Artisanal Mining
Women Participation
Value Added

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STRATEGIES – MINING ACT, 2003
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Ownership Vested in Government
Various Mineral Rights
Mineral Agreements with investors
Separation of Powers in administration
Royalties payable on gross value
Royalty Revenues Shared: Government/Local
Government and Landowner

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STRATEGIES – MINING ACT cont’d
• Activities to comply with National Environmental
Management Act
• Compensate Landowners for Disturbance
• Settlement of Disputes: Administrative Reviews /
Courts of Law
• Removal of Discretionary Powers
• Arbitration through sole expert

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STRATEGIES – MINERAL SECTOR
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
• 2004-2011: World Bank/IDA, African
Development Bank, Nordic Development Fund,
and Government of Uganda
• Geoscience Data
– Airborne Geophysical Surveys: 700,000 line-kms of
magnetic, radiometric & EM to be acquired.
– To date approx. 558,000 line-kms flown with
completion expected by Feb 09
– Geological Mapping, Geochemical Surveys & Mineral
Resources Assessment commenced in Nov 2008.
– Establishment of Geoscience Databases, Geological
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& Mineral Information System is in progress.

Priority areas for airborne geophysical surveys.

AfDB

IDA

AfDB
IDA
AfDB

AfDB

IDA

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Airborne magnetic total field intensity

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Airborne total count radiometrics

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STRATEGIES – MINERAL SECTOR
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME cont’d

• Capacity Building – through training and
retooling.
• Transparency in Mineral Titles
administration.
• Physical infrastructure development.
• Investment Promotion
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CONCLUSIONS
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UGANDA HAS EXCELLENT POTENTIAL

• NEW GEOSCIENCE DATA PROVIDE
OPPORTUNITIES

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INVESTOR FRIENDLY POLICIES AND CLIMATE

WARM WELCOME TO VISIT UGANDA BOOTH 331,
AT THE MINES & MONEY CONFERENCE
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THANK YOU

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