Cabinet approves Kenyas first mining and minerals policy

The government will soon launch a countrywide survey to determine the amount and quality of minerals within the country’s soils. the survey whose time frame is not clear targets to enhance  information on the country’s mineral potential for increase investment both for local and international investors.

Scattered troughs, old packaging containers, men and women some sometimes children running in and out of manually dug mines in Weiwei  West Pokot.

Such are scenes that have defined local mining activities for decades. lack of a proper regulatory framework and modern legal structure have resulted in the sector being run in an ad hoc manner according to the Mining Cabinet Secretary Dan Kazungu.

Perhaps the reason why the Cabinet after years of deliberations has finally approved the country’s first mining and mineral policy. the policy is said to provide a framework that offers clear guidance on how mining activities and their development are to be conducted going forward.

“It brings predictability and certainty and ushers in a new dawn to attract investment in the mining sector,”  Kazungu spoke of the new policy.

Through the policy, the government, with help from government and international  agencies will carry out a national survey to determine the amount and kind of Kenya’s underground wealth and its estimated value.

The initiative whose cost is estimated at 60 million dollars will use both space and geophysical technology to evaluate the country’s mineral potential as a way of boosting investment in the sector. “We need as a matter of agency to know what we have so that we can know how best to extract this minerals for the benefit of Kenyans” Kazungu insisted.

The approval of the policy now sets the stage for the preparation of the much awaited mining bill which will repeal the archaic mining act, the diamond industry protection act and the trading in unwrought precious metals act.

Towards this end the mining ministry has formulated a six pack model of marketing Kenya’s mining potential for increased investment. The model entails 1. Implementation of a 20 year mining strategy, 2. A comprehensive mining framework, 3. Enactment of the mining bill 2014, 4. Implementation of mining regulations 5. Establishment of a stable fiscal regime and 6. An airborne national geophysical survey.