Uganda has officially opened its first large-scale gold mine, a $250 million Chinese-backed project located in the eastern part of the country, the presidency announced.
The facility, according to Reuters, includes a refinery capable of producing bullion with 99.9% purity.
The East African nation, which is also rich in copper, cobalt, and iron ore, is aiming to strengthen its mining sector and establish itself as a significant gold producer.
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Gold has already become Uganda’s largest foreign-exchange earner, generating $3.4 billion in export revenue in 2024, or about 37% of total exports, much of which came from re-exported gold.
The new plant is designed to process 5,000 tons of ore per day and produce 1.2 metric tons of refined gold annually, a dramatic increase compared to the country’s 2023 output of just 0.0042 tons.
President Yoweri Museveni said the project aligns with Uganda’s broader push for value addition in mineral processing, arguing that exporting raw minerals drains potential revenue.
“In order to wake up in the minerals sector, we must have full value addition for all minerals like gold, lithium, tin among others,” he stated.
The government plans to use gold revenues to fund major infrastructure projects, including new power plants and a $3.16 billion standard-gauge railway linking Uganda to Kenya, a project aimed at reducing trade logistics costs.
By comparison, Ghana, Africa’s leading gold producer, earned $11.6 billion from gold exports in 2023, highlighting the scale of Uganda’s ambitions to catch up in the global market.
Image Credit: Voice of Nigeria
