The other day, we woke up to news that Nairobi was ranked the second worst place to live in, Globally. Sad. But again the recent discovery of commercial deposits of oil in Turkana County has created hopes that our republic could be in the verge of graduating into a middle level economy, backed by nature. Through this Kenyans and the government hope that they'll earn handsome foreign exchange cash from exploiting her natural resources, which are yet to be fully explored.

Fountain Media Kenya reports that a statement by African Laughter maintained that mining has been touted as the next big thing to spur Kenya to mid level economy status. This will come as the surge in global commodity prices and investor appetite for new frontier markets seek to revive interests in Kenya’s mining potential.

Kenya's mining industry is dominated by production of non-metallic minerals encompassing industrial minerals such as soda ash, fluorspar, Kaolin and some gemstones. Mining accounts for less than 1% of Kenya’s annual GDP, though the majority is contributed by the soda ash operation at Lake Magadi, thus begging the question, what could possibly be the case if the country exploited thoroughly the extensive deposits of buried wealth 'found in plenty within our borders?'

From Oil to Gold and Others

It's already begun. From oil to gold to natural gases, prospectors have been rushing to cash in on all the action. Gold is produced primarily by artisanal workers in the west and south western parts of the country, on several small greenstone belts. Iron ore is mined from small localised deposits for use in the domestic manufacture of cement.

It’s no surprise when Cortec Mining Kenya Limited, a local exploration firm, makes plans to start production on a mining project of Niobium in South Eastern Kenya.  I Am Gold, an international mining company and World Gold Council member with operations in 3 continents, reports that demand for Niobium has seen an annual increase of about 10% over the past decade. Obviously thus, our Niobium will certainly sell, while Kenyans and Kenya will earn from that.

[READ: Why Bother With Oil When You Have Nobium?]

There are other trillions of buried wealth in this country. Minerals that are presently found in Kenya in significant quantities are soda ash (Trona) around Lake Magadi, Fluorspar at Kimwarer in Kerio Valley as well as Titanium in Kwale, Malindi and Lamu. There is  reasonable potential for Gold in Kakamega, Vihiga, Migori, Transmara, Bondo, Siaya, Pokot and Turkana  while there weres minor indications of the mineral in Nandi. Coal occurs in Mwingi and Mutitu and is currently under investigations by the Ministry of Energy in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources to establish its viability for commercial exploitation. See, that's where things slow down-when the sirkal is busy inventing long bureaucratic procedures "investigating to determine viability", while the process should be swift and short so that we get busy mining and earning, while paying our taxes. How inappropriate!

Iron ore occurs in parts of Taita, Meru, Kitui, Kilifi and Samia. The Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources as well as private prospecting companies are involved in   evaluation of viability-take note, another Sirkal hurdle right there. Manganese ore occurs in Ganze and Mrima Hill  in  Coastal region .

Diatomite  is found at Kariandusi near Gilgil. Vermiculite on Kinyiki Hill. Gypsum in El Wak,  Garissa, Tana River, Kajiado and Turkana . Natural carbon dioxide at Kereita in Kiambu while  a variety of gemstones are found in Taita, Kwale, Kitui, Mwingi, Kajiado, Isiolo, Pokot and  Turkana. All those are minerals found in Kenya, whether their deposits are large or small.

Mineral Data

 Data from KNBS as reported by Fountain Media shows that the mining industry contributed an estimated KES 7.246 billion to the economy in 2011 with a 7.1% growth, a figure expected to increase with more finds in natural gas, oil and the recent finds of niobium in the Mrima Hill, the fourth largest in the world. If exploited, the discoveries could see the country’s mining export revenues overtake coffee, which brings in about KES 17 billion yearly, as Kenya’s fourth-largest source of foreign hard currency.

[caption id="attachment_28288" align="alignnone" width="510"] Kenya's Mineral Production;Value of Sales 2006-2010. DATA:KNBS[/caption]

And by the way, all unextracted minerals are government property, according to the Mining Act. The Department of Mines and Geology, under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, controls exploration and exploitation of such minerals. So even if you have gold deposits in your backyard, you don't own that.