The Makuutu ionic adsorption clay deposit, roughly 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.
Why the basket matters
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.
Licensing position
Makuutu received large-scale mining licence LML 00334 in January 2024, the first issued under the Mining and Minerals Act 2022, covering roughly 44 square kilometres. A further application covers additional tenements. Stage 1 definitive feasibility returned a positive result in March 2023.
The funding gap
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.
Local 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.