•Base Titanium is however contemplating a 12-month extension of the mine-life by mining an area near its current Special Mining Lease.
•It is also seeking government approval to expand its operations in other parts.
Kenya could lose 65 per cent of its mineral exports by October next year if Base Titanium fails to expand its operations in Kwale.
Current ore reserves at the Australian mining company's licensed area provides for 18 months of mine life, with operations ceasing in October 2022.
Together with Tata Chemicals, which accounts for 48.9 per cent of sector revenues, the two holds 77 per cent of the country's mineral revenue earnings.
Others are Kenya Fluorspar(18.6 per cent), Karebe Gold(4.6 per cent), Kilimapesa Gold(0.7 per cent) and Lapigems Limited(0.4 per cent). The rest of the industry players account for 15.5 per cent.
It is currently mining the last site (South Dune) where mineral concentration has significantly dropped, according to the firm, which is looking for options to extend the mine life while it hopes for expansion to other areas.
“Our current reserves will be mined and depleted by next year October,” general manager external affairs Simon Wall said during the Kenya Mining Investment Webinar, “time is really running out.”
The firm is contemplating a 12-month extension of the mine-life by mining an area near its current Special Mining Lease.
This is the 'North Dune' which had initially been left out due to low grade and poor mineral assemblage.
However, mining activities cannot take place without a 'deed of variation' to extend its Special Mining Lease boundary, which is still pending.
Our current reserves will be mined and depleted by next year OctoberBase Titanium general manager external affairs Simon Wall
“It will buy us a little bit of time to do additional exploration and hope to find more resources and extend the mine-life,” said Wall.
The firm which commenced mining titanium ores in the country in 2013, with the first shipment in February 2014, is keen to expand its operations beyond next year, having also discovered ore bodies in other parts of the Kwale region.
This is after it acquired a prospecting licence covering 136 square kilometres in Vanga area(PL/2015/0042), towards the Kenya-Tanzania border of Lunga Lunga,which was approved by the Mineral Rights Board and issued in December 2018.
The firm has been awaiting clearance from the Petroleum and Mining ministry since 2017 to expand beyond the current site.
It exhausted the ‘Central Dune’ which it mined from October 2013 to June 2019, before moving to the South Dune(current).
A loss of titanium exports will create a huge gap in the mining sector earnings, noting Base accounts for 88.7 per cent of total sector revenue, according to the ministry data.
In 2019, export earnings from titanium ores was Sh13.9 billion, the Economic Survey 2020, by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, shows.
“The value of exports to China (mainland) went up by 36.2 per cent due to increase in the value of exports of titanium ores and concentrates,” KNBS says in the survey.
It also partly attributes the 9.7 per cent increase in the total value of exports to the US, which closed at per Sh 51.9 billion in 2019, to increase in the value of domestic exports of titanium ores and concentrates, and articles of apparels and clothing accessories.
Government revenues from Base Titanium are estimated at a total Sh23 billion over the current mine life, with Sh3.7 billion being spent annually on purchases from Kenyan businesses by the company, which has employed over 1,000 people.