Kilembe Mines revival still stalled

Once the industrial heart of Kasese, Kilembe Mines has been effectively dormant since the collapse of the Tibet-Hima concession in 2015. Successive tries 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.

01A resource without a partner

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.

You see, officials at the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines have said discussions on a redevelopment structure, potentially involving a production sharing arrangement of the kind now used elsewhere in Uganda's mineral sector, remain under negotiation.

02What the district is losing

Truth be told, 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. Former Kilembe employees and their descendants make up a significant share of the district's technically trained workforce, much of it now underemployed.

Even so, district councillors have also raised the state of legacy infrastructure at the site, including housing and underground workings that require rehabilitation before any restart, as a cost that any incoming investor will need to price into a deal.

03What would change the picture

Reviving Kilembe responsibly would be a signature win for Uganda's formalisation agenda. UMT will continue to track negotiations and report when a concession structure is formally announced. We shall return to it when the numbers come out.