Kenya’s Minister for Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Salim Mvurya says the country has discovered its first deposits of the valuable mineral coltan, used to manufacture electric car batteries, mobile phones and other electronic devices.
Mvurya who said mining officials had previously hinted that Kenya could have traces of the highly valuable Iron-ore, said that his announcement means it is now official that Kenya has coltan reserves.
According to Mvurya the teams will be left behind to do ground truthing, to usher the commencement of mining and begin to assess the economic value of that particular mineral.
Residents of Embu County in eastern Kenya, one of the six counties with reserves of the mineral, have been advised to hold onto their land.
The Democratic Republic of Congo holds more than 70% of the world’s coltan reserves, which have for decades fuelled violent conflict in the east of the country, but their value is yet to be determined.
