Makuutu drawn into Western critical minerals planning

The Makuutu ionic adsorption clay deposit, about 120 kilometres east of Kampala, holds a resource of about 532 million tonnes at 640 ppm total rare earth oxides, with close to 45 per cent of the basket in medium and heavy oxides. That mix, rather than the tonnage, is what has changed the project's standing.

01Why the basket matters

Even so, China's April 2025 export controls cover dysprosium, terbium, gadolinium, lutetium, samarium, scandium and yttrium, which are the elements Makuutu is richest in. With the overwhelming majority of global dysprosium and terbium supply routed through China and Myanmar, a non-Chinese source at scale is scarce.

02Licensing position

Makuutu received large-scale mining licence LML 00334 in January 2024, the first issued under the Mining and Minerals Act 2022, covering about 44 square kilometres. A further application covers additional tenements. Stage 1 definitive feasibility returned a positive result in March 2023.

03The funding gap

Truth be told, None of this makes the project financed. Ionic clay processing is chemically simpler than hard rock rare earths but still needs separation capacity that does not currently exist in East Africa. Offtake conversations with Western buyers are active; construction capital is the unresolved piece.

04Local exposure

Any development at this scale carries a land question, and the districts across the licence area are already negotiating. Coverage of that side of the project is unavoidable, and this desk treats resettlement planning as part of the project's viability rather than a separate social story. That is the part we shall be checking next time.