Kenya happens to be on the verge of a prominent economic advantage after the discovery of its largest gold deposits in decades in Kakamega County, which are estimated to be valued at Sh683 billion or US$5.29 billion.
As per the Star Kenya, Shanta Gold Limited, the British miner, has confirmed 1.27 million ounces of gold out of its Isulu-Bushiangala underground project, therefore marking a major milestone as largest gold deposits in Kenya within the mining sector.
The Environmental Impact Assessment – EIA report, which has been submitted to the National Environment Management Authority – NEMA goes on to outline plans in terms of a large-scale underground mine covering around 337 acres located at the Kakamega South Sub-county.
The project, which happens to be spearheaded by Shanta Gold Kenya Limited, which is a subsidiary of the London-listed firm, is going to make use of advanced long-hole open stoping tech in order to extract ore while at the same time minimizing the surface disruption.
As per the company’s statement, the project happens to be aimed at obtaining the needed authorization so as to mine the Isulu-Bushiangala gold resources because of economic purposes.
This may as well lead to the upgradation of local economic development by way of job and business opportunities as well as prominent contributions towards the government of Kenya by way of taxes, royalties, and along with them, revenue contributions that are most likely to transfer into the local as well as regional economic growth.
Major infrastructure is going to include a 1,500-tonne-per-day processing plant along with a 12-megawatt power station and also a tailings storage facility. The construction of the mine is forecasted to cost somewhere around Sh22 billion and Sh27 billion, having an operational life of a minimum of eight years.
It is well to be noted that Kenya at present happens to play quite a minor role in the gold mining industry of Africa, producing almost 410 kilograms of gold in 2023, which is far below the major producers like Ghana, South Africa as well as Sudan, each of which produce millions of ounces per year.
In spite of this low output, Kenya is indeed emerging as a very attractive new frontier when it comes to gold exploration as well as investment, ranking 6th throughout Africa in terms of mining investment attractiveness as per the survey in 2023 by the Fraser Institute.
Because of the discovery of the Isulu-Bushiangala deposit in Kakamega by Shanta Gold Limited of US$5.29 billion, marking largest gold deposits in Kenya, the position of country could improve quite significantly, thereby signalling a transition from small-scale artisanal mining to large-scale commercial production.
As per the EIA report, the project is all set to generate millions in terms of royalties and taxes as well as community development funds. As per the Mining Act of Kenya, 3% of gross gold sales are going to be paid in terms of royalties, out of which 20% would go to Kakamega County and 10% to the local communities by way of certain development projects. Shanta Gold is also going to contribute 1% of the overall gold output value directly to the host communities, which is going to be in line with the Mining – Community Development Agreement Regulations.
Economists opine that the discovery could as well inject new life into the economy of Kenya through diversifying revenue sources that go beyond agriculture as well as tourism. It is also anticipated to bring to the fore several hundreds of jobs at the time of construction and production phases, help the local businesses, and also attract a great amount of foreign direct investment- FDI.
However, The Star Kenya also reports that there are concerns over land acquisition, displacement, as well as environmental risks, due to the fact of the close proximity of the site to the Kakamega Forest as well as other key river catchments. The company has gone on to pledge to go ahead and follow the Land Act of Kenya and also its international resettlement benchmarks so as to eradicate these challenges.
If it gets approved by NEMA, the Shanta Gold project is sure to position Kakamega as the new frontier in industrial-scale gold mining in Kenya, thereby unlocking a major new stream of economic growth as far as western Kenya and also the nation at large are concerned.