Timothy Waiswa
Timothy Waiswa covers Uganda's rare earths, cobalt and battery-metals prospects, from Makuutu to Kilembe, with a focus on how exploration-stage projects handle consultation and resettlement.
Based in Jinja, Uganda
- Rare earths
- Cobalt and copper
- Exploration licensing
Reporting by Timothy Waiswa
- Critical minerals · August 6, 2026
DR Congo concentrate ban raises the stakes for Uganda
Kinshasa has stopped exports of copper and cobalt concentrates with immediate effect and added new taxes on by-products. For Uganda, which is drafting its own value-addition rules, the question is whether processing capacity can be built before export restrictions bite.
- Critical minerals · August 4, 2026
Makuutu drawn into Western critical minerals planning
A 532 million tonne ionic clay resource with an unusually heavy rare earth basket has moved from development curiosity to strategic asset. Funding, not geology, is the constraint.
- Critical minerals · July 31, 2026
Strategic review at Makuutu rare earths
Even so, ionic Rare Earths has opened a strategic review of the Makuutu rare earths project, putting funding, partnership and development options for one of Uganda's most advanced critical-minerals assets back on the table.
- Critical minerals · June 20, 2026
Graphite interest runs ahead of the drilling
Central and western occurrences are being sampled for flake quality. Anode-grade qualification is a long, expensive road that most projects do not finish.
- Critical minerals · November 14, 2024
Makuutu completes rare earths demo plant
Rwenzori Rare Metals confirmed completion of a demonstration processing plant at Makuutu in late 2024, a milestone for one of Africa's few advanced ionic-adsorption-clay rare earth projects.
- Critical minerals · July 18, 2023
Makuutu Rare Earths secures 21-year licence
Rwenzori Rare Metals' Makuutu project in Bugweri secured a 21-year large-scale mining licence, potentially making Uganda one of the few African producers of ionic-adsorption-clay rare earth elements.