Keypoints
- Inauguration of the Wagagai Gold Mining Project, Uganda’s first large-scale gold refinery
- Facility processes 5,000 t of ore daily to produce 1.2 t refined gold annually
- Revenue will be reinvested in power and railway infrastructure
IN a landmark move for Uganda’s extractive sector, President Yoweri Museveni officially inaugurated the Wagagai Gold Mining Project in Busia District on Saturday, marking the country’s first large-scale gold mine and refining facility. The $250 million Chinese-owned venture will now refine gold domestically to 99.9 per cent purity, signalling a pivotal shift from raw mineral exportation to value addition.
A breakthrough for Uganda’s mineral strategy
The landlocked East African country, endowed with copper, cobalt and iron ore, has long aimed to elevate its mining industry. With the Wagagai plant now operational, the refinery—spanning just over nine square kilometres in Busia—will process about 5,000 tonnes of gold ore daily. This equates to around 1.2 metric tonnes of refined gold annually—an extraordinary leap from Uganda’s domestic output of merely 0.0042 tonnes in 2023.
President Museveni remarked on the need for value addition, stating: ‘In order to wake up in the minerals sector, we must have full value addition for all minerals like gold, lithium, tin among others.’
Economic impact and reinvestment pledge
Last year, gold exports earned Uganda about $3.4bn—about 37 per cent of its total export revenue—with much of that derived from re-exported gold mined by artisanal operations. Yet this still lags far behind Ghana’s $11.6bn in bullion exports.
Museveni emphasised that the revenue from this project will be channelled into developing lasting infrastructure such as power stations and the national railway, reinforcing Uganda’s industrial foundation.
Chinese partnership and local development
Wagagai Mining (U) Limited, the Chinese-backed firm behind the project, has set a precedent in Uganda’s mining landscape. Local reports add that the refinery achieves even higher purity levels of up to 99.99 per cent, and the venture forms part of a larger $250 million phased plan, creating thousands of jobs and training hundreds of Ugandan workers.
The facility’s operations are framed as transformative—ending the decades-old loss of exporting unprocessed minerals and fostering domestic beneficiation. Museveni urged artisanal miners to collaborate with the refinery to ensure their finds are processed locally, rather than sold unrefined.
Strategic infrastructure alignment
This industrial leap aligns with broader infrastructural upgrades, including Uganda’s ongoing construction of a standard-gauge railway (valued at $3.16bn) to cut transportation costs for exports and imports via Kenya.
