African Panther launches ASM programme in Kitgum

African Panther Resources has begun a structured formalisation programme with artisanal vermiculite pickers in Kitgum, one of the first industrial-mineral operators in Uganda to build such a scheme into the design of its project rather than bolting it on afterwards.

Participants receive personal protective equipment, transparent per-kilogram pricing linked to grade, and membership in a cooperative that handles bulk sales and record-keeping. District officials describe the approach as a model that could be replicated for limestone, marble, tin and other industrial minerals across northern and western Uganda.

01Why this differs from typical formalisation

Most ASM formalisation drives in Uganda have followed licensing first, benefit-sharing later, if at all. African Panther has inverted the sequence, building pricing transparency and cooperative structure into the project design from the outset, which local leaders say has reduced the friction that often accompanies a company's arrival on ground where artisanal pickers already work.

02What is still unresolved

Truth be told, the scheme currently covers a minority of pickers active in the concession area. Kitgum district officials say expanding membership, and formally registering the cooperative under the Mining and Minerals Act 2022 artisanal licence class, remain unfinished business for 2024.

03What UMT will watch

UMT will track whether the per-kilogram pricing formula is applied consistently as vermiculite prices move, and whether the cooperative model is in fact replicated elsewhere, as officials predict, or remains a single-site pilot. We shall keep following this one.