Prospecting for rare minerals in Kwale to begin this year

By GITHUA KIHARA

The initial drilling at Kiruku in Kwale County to analyse the presence of rare-earth minerals will be carried out this year, Pacific Wildcat Corporation (PAW), the Canadian firm exploring the area announced last week.

The president of PAW Darren Townsend says preliminary investigations reveal high grade Total Rare-Earth Oxide at Kiruku Hill.

"The results at Kiruku Hill further support the historic samples collected by the Metal Mining Agency of Japan who first identified the element in 1993.

From a limited sample population, PAW announces that the hill was favourably elevated in Heavy Rare-Earth Oxides and Yttrium," Townsend said.

Last year, the company identified viable quantities of Niobium and rare-earths at Mrima Hills, about three kilometres away.

Sample results

A total of 34 rock chips were collected from surface focusing on rare earths in other regions near the Mrima Hills.

Results from 20 samples were released on February 28, and the remaining 14 samples – nine from Jombo Hill and five from Kiruku Hill released last week show the presence of rare minerals in the latter.

Significant rare -earth minerals were identified and analysis brought returns of 4.45 per cent, three per cent and 2.53 per cent in three samples drawn from Kiruku Hill.

The firm is looking for a return of over one per cent for the rare earth to justify economically viable quantities.

There is a chronic shortage of the rare earths in the world, which has triggered a spike in mining projects.

China, which accounts for an estimated 97 per cent of global rare-earth supplies, has been tightening trade in the strategic metals, sparking an explosion in prices.

High-tech devices

Early this month, Western power moved to compel China to drop current export restrictions on rare-earth minerals.

The US, European Union and Japan are filing a challenge with the World Trade Organisation against China’s export restrictions on minerals that are crucial for the production of many high-tech devices.

The materials are used in products such as flat-screen televisions, smart phones, hybrid car batteries, wind turbines, energy-efficient lighting, electronics, cars and petroleum.

The Mrima Hills also have niobium and the site is believed to have the potential to earn the country Sh270 billion ($3 billion) from the two minerals.

David Anderson, the managing director of Cortec Mining, which co-owns the mineral deposits with the PAW, said that the firm would apply for a mining lease once the environmental impact assessment covering the area was completed.

In Mrima, Niobium and the other rare minerals occurred consistently over the covered ground and existed deeper than 30 metres below the surface, alluding to the fact that the deposits were substantial.

"These first diamond results confirm the significant depth potential to the Mrima Hill deposit," Townsend said last year.

High grade

"As can be seen from the cross sections, we have now proved the high grade Niobium mineralisation extends at depths substantially deeper than the initial Inferred Niobium resource which is limited to a depth of 30m,"

Niobium is a high specialty mineral used in strengthening steel in the application of spacecraft parts, whose use as a consequence of new technological innovations has surged globally.

Niobium toughened steel is also used in the manufacture of water and sewerage pipes due to its resistance to corrosion.

Issuance of a mining lease to the firm is expected to lift the country’s profile as a mineral producer.

The firms in December last year secured a three-year extension for rare earths and niobium minerals prospecting licence, giving the company more time to analyse the deposits.

Although the community had initially opposed the mining, prospecting firms signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kaya Mrima Self-Help Group to get support of projects in education, health, culture and biodiversity.

Residents of Kwale, where the mines are, would also be supported through income generation activities including direct employment and tenders.

Rewards to residents

Residents are getting $10,000 (Sh830,000) monthly during the prospecting period to support the projects, which will be increased once the actual mining begins.

Anderson said the country’s rare earth reserves only come third after Brazil and Canada. He observed that the deposits around the hill would last between 15 to 20 years and would make Kenya one of the worlds top producers of the two rare minerals. The minerals are contained in zone on top of a hill.

PAW announced at the end of last year that is was nearing acquisition of a 70 per cent stake in Cortec Mining Kenya, the registered holder of Special Prospecting Licence for over 1,800 sqkm area.