Base Titanium has announced that it will shut down its Kenyan operations by the end of 2024 following the depletion of mineral deposits in its Kwale mine.
The company which employs close to a thousand Kenyans is a subsidiary of the Australian-based Base Resources Group.
With operations in Kwale, Base Titanium operates Kenya’s largest mine. The company's exit is expected to compound the problems facing the Kenyan economy which has struggled to hit its projected targets.
Base Titanium set camp in Kwale County in 2013 after discovering a high-grade ore body with a high-value mineral assemblage, rich in Titanium.
The Titanium mined from the region is used to make high-tech alloys used in aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles.
After a decade of mining the precious metals, Base Titanium has remarked that the resource has quickly depleted hence the need to exit the region.
The company is open to staying longer in the country should it be given permission to continue its exploration activities in other parts of the country.
“In an effort to extend its life, Base Titanium is seeking to identify additional mineral deposits that may lie in proximity to the existing operation,” the company stated.
Apart from providing employment opportunities, the company generates money for the government through royalty and taxation revenues.
Kenya’s mining industry is also set to suffer since Kwale Operation accounts for 65 per cent of Kenya’s mining industry by mineral output value.
News of Base Titanium's exit from Kenya came barely a month after the Ministry of Mining lifted a 2019 mining moratorium.
While lifting the moratorium on October 4, Mining Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya noted that there would be 20 per cent royalty sharing with the counties on mining operations.
“A framework for sharing 10 per cent royalties to the communities has been developed and subjected to public participation,” the CS announced then.
