- Uganda to launch first tin processing facility in May 2024, enhancing domestic mineral value.
- President Museveni drives efforts to tap into the East African market amid rising mineral demand.
- Woodcross Resources leads the charge with a 1000-ton annual capacity tin refinery in southwestern Uganda.
Uganda, in a bid to add domestic value to its minerals, is set to establish its first-ever tin refining plant in May 2024. The plant, which is owned by Woodcross Resources would be situated in the southwestern region of the East African country. The plant is said to have a refining capacity of over 1000 tons annually.
Uganda ventures into tin refining as it sets up its first-ever plant
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A report by the American news outlet Reuters disclosed that the president of Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni is currently attempting to leverage the benefits of exports to the country, where many gold refineries are in operation, and Chinese-backed Sunbird Resources was just granted a license to mine limestone for cement manufacturing.
As a result, the budding East African country is on the brink of commissioning its first-ever tin refining plant, as part of its endeavors to increase its productivity and add domestic value to its minerals.
Reuters was informed of Uganda’s plan to establish the plant next month on Wednesday by Irene Bateebe, a senior official in the country’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.
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“We are preparing to launch our very first tin processing facility," she stated. "They will be refining tin to over 99% in terms of its purity," she added.
She however refused to disclose the size of the investment.
The refining facility is owned by Woodcross Resources, a mining and mineral trading corporation situated in Uganda.
According to Woodcross's website, their tin refining factory is capable of processing over 1,000 tons of tin each year, and it has a mining license encompassing 40 square kilometers (15 sq miles) in western Uganda.
