Once the industrial heart of Kasese, Kilembe Mines has been effectively dormant since the collapse of the Tibet-Hima concession in 2015. Successive attempts to identify a new investor for the copper-cobalt complex have not produced a signed deal, and the district's youth unemployment figures reflect the vacuum.
The dormancy is not for want of geology. Historic surveys and more recent studies point to a resource that, at today's cobalt and copper prices, would sit comfortably inside the global critical-minerals conversation. What is missing is a credible partner and a licensing settlement that satisfies both the Treasury and the district.
Local leaders have urged the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to conclude negotiations, warning that another year of drift risks pushing skilled labour out of Kasese permanently. Reviving Kilembe responsibly would be a signature win for Uganda's formalisation agenda.