Uganda plans to build its first tin refining factory in May 2024, in an effort to increase the domestic value of its resources. The factory, owned by Woodcross Resources, would be located in the southern area of the East African country. The factory is believed to have a refining capability of more than 1000 tons per year.
According to Reuters, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni is leveraging the benefits of exports to the country, which has many gold refineries. Sunbird Resources, backed by China, has recently been granted a license to mine limestone for cement manufacturing.
As a result, the emerging East African country is on the verge of launching its first tin refining factory, as part of its efforts to boost production and add domestic value to its resources.
Irene Bateebe, a senior official in Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, briefed Reuters on Wednesday of the country’s plans to create the plant next month.
“We are preparing to launch our very first tin processing facility,” she went on to say.”They will be refining tin to over 99% in terms of its purity,” she went on to say.
She declined to reveal the quantity of the investment.
Woodcross Resources, a Uganda-based mining and mineral trading firm, owns the refining facility.
According to Woodcross’s website, their tin refining business can handle over 1,000 tons of tin per year and has a mining license for 40 square kilometers (15 square miles) in western Uganda.