A Zambian firm is set to set up a Ksh1 billion gold refining industry along Nairobi's Mombasa Road.
Alinani Precious Metals, one of the leading mineral refineries in the South African nation, says construction of the gold processing plant will commence early September this year. This is according to the Nation.
Bupe Chipado, the firm's CEO, remarks that the firm will help bring to an end the export of raw commodities and ensure that miners get value for their commodities.
The CEO noted that artisan mining is very popular in several counties in Kenya and the firm will be beneficial to them.
“Ainani Precious Metals will have the ability to generate and distill about 300kgs of gold per day with state-of-the-art equipment and machinery,” Bupe stated.
He proceeded to say that the firm is targeting small-scale miners from Siaya, Migori, Kisumu, Homa Bay and Kakamega among other counties.
The CEO says that these members will be trained, financed, and given machines and technical support to carry out their mining activities.
Earlier on, the Kenya Mineral Board Chairman, Stephen Kuria, had mentioned that this untapped mineral sector has the potential of earning the country income equivalent to 12% of the GDP.
"Working with raw materials only in the mineral sector contributes very little, that is less than 1% to the country’s GDP," noted Kuria.
Most mineral deposits in Kenya are small scale and lack proper supporting infrastructure.
According to Petroleum and Mining Principal Secretary, Andrew Kamau, a recent survey showed that value addition in minerals will help the industry attract investors as well as improve their productivity.
“Data from the survey will make it easier to attract investors to a sector that has been neglected for years,” PS Kamau mentioned.
