Since 2022, a little-known country in Africa has been developing a large gold mine, which could become one of the largest in the world. Now, this country has opened a large factory that will produce ingots with a purity of 99.9%. This is Uganda, a country located in eastern Africa. The deposit was discovered in Karamoja, in the northwest, and another in the Busia region, in the east. This discovery could generate revenue of $12 billion.
African country that could become the largest gold producer
Uganda is currently implementing a Chinese investment project worth $250 million in the Busia region. At the same time, according to the Ugandan Ministry of Energy and Development, a gold deposit with a volume of 31 million tonnes has been discovered, containing 320,000 tonnes of this metal in its pure state. Its total exploitation could reach $12 billion, which could boost the country’s economy and forever change the map of the global gold market.
This company will process 5,000 tonnes of metal per day and reach 1.2 metric tonnes per year. This will be significantly more than in 2023, when production was 0.0042 tonnes. The projected output is 1,825 tonnes per year, which will account for more than 50% of the world’s recorded production, for example, in 2023 (3,000 tonnes).
Gold in Uganda: production target
In 2024, revenue from gold in Uganda was $3.4 billion from gold exports, representing 37% of total export revenue. Most of this revenue came from re-exports and artisanal production. However, this is still far from making the country the largest gold producer in Africa: Ghana remains in the lead, with revenues of $11.6 billion last year, according to the specialist website Jagran Josh.
Nevertheless, the Ugandan government is building a standard gauge railway with a budget of 2.7 billion euros, which will reduce the cost of transport to the port of Kenya, thereby increasing the competitiveness of exports.
How gold was discovered in this African country
The Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Development, Solomon Muita, explained that the gold deposit was discovered during an aerial survey, including geochemical and geophysical studies. The largest deposits were discovered in the north-east of the country, in a region called Karamoja, on the border with Kenya. In addition, other gold deposits have been discovered in the central, eastern and western regions of the country.
For its part, President Yoweri Museveni’s administration has recently increased investment in the mining industry. ‘For the mining sector to awaken, we must achieve total added value for all minerals, such as gold, lithium, tin and others,’ he said during the inauguration ceremony in Busia.