MINING Cabinet secretary Dan Kazungu has announced fresh requirements for miners and explorers if they are to to continue operating in Kenya.
He said miners must present the ministry with work plans detailing their daily operations, financial statements showing how much they spend in mining activities and records indicating their income revenues.
These documents, he said, will help determine which explorers can be allowed to go into full mining activities. Those who do not comply risk having their licenses revoked, he said.
He spoke after a formal handover his predecessor Najib Balala who is now the Tourism CS.
Balala urged Kazungu to only consider partnerships with serious investors and not those who have been purporting to be undertaking exploration activities, even for ten years, with no tangible results to show.
“Last year, the ministry cancelled 65 mineral exploration licenses, some which had expired, and others of investors who did not comply with the ministry's requirements in their places of operation,” said Balala.
He said any serious investor should have a capital base of at least $100 million (Sh10.22 billion) to begin commercial mining activities, and should not dwell on prospecting activities for too long because it would be depriving the country of revenue in taxes and royalties.
Balala also asked Kazungu to implement the Kenya Mining Strategy 2030, which he said has the potential of earning the country up to $1.3 billion (Sh133.12 billion) in royalties within 10 years. He said gold mining alone could bring in $3billion (Sh306.89 billion) in revenue earnings for Kenya.
