[CENTER]When the colonists landed they did an extensive mineral mapping project in all of Kenya. And they extracted a significant amount of resources before they stopped.
For the longest Kenyans have been lied too by the government that Kenya doesn’t have any big mineral resources. Yet the colonists were able to recover 33,000 ounces of gold worth over 4billion shillings today. For the longest, we have been told Kenya is not a mineral-rich country and yet we have resources which can be exploited to help move this country forward. Limestone, gypsum, etc used in the construction industry are minerals which should be earning us a lot of money. And yet during this infrastructure boom, our resources are being favored for imports.
Though gold in small, amounts have been discovered in various areas, such as West Pokot, Laikipia, north 'Of the Loldaika hills and Machakos, gold and silver mining has been mainly restricted to areas in which the Nyanzian and Kavirondian Systems are found, i.e. in Nyanza Province.
Copper - had very high yields but production fell off in 1968
Gold - 1968 33,336 ounces
Silver - 1958 52,000 ounces
Kaolin - 1,488 tonnes 1967 ( this mineral is used for makeup, treats diarrhea,)
Sapphire - 1967 8,000 carats (about 3.5 pounds) a small number of gems but the potential of mining these resources are there.
Vermiculite - A very important mineral which is used to hold water in plants. (more information)
The famous Macalder Mine in Migori which has its fortunes locked away should because of many years of ignoring the small scale miners who risk there lives every day digging deeper into the mines looking for Gold and Silver.
The amount of Gold and Silver lying dormant in Nyanza areas can easily change the fortunes of many people.
Traces of copper minerals have been found at several localities in Basement System terrain in the eastern part of Central Province. in Eastern Province and .in West Pokot. At Lugard’s Falls. where 5 percent of ore prospected many years ago. the copper occurs in a pegmatite mineralized with chaleopy-rite. [.ater prospecting revealed chalcopy— rite and bornite in a granulite to a depth of 15 ft… values between 0.2 and 1.8 per cent of copper being obtained. It is unlikely that such deposits will become of economic interest. It has been suggested that zones of secondary enrichment might occur at depth. Southeast of Embu and north-east of Kapenguria tmces of ores rich in bornite have been discovered.
An extensive copper deposit was known for some years at Macalder-Nyanza Mine in South Nyanza, though for many years the mine extracted only gold from the oxidized zone.
In 1965 a deposit of many millions of tons of massive iron ore was discovered near Marimante. 25 miles south-east of Meru township. but the TiO._. content of the ore. varying between 5 and if per cent. makes the deposit of no value under present conditions.
Manganese.-Deposits of manganese ores were discovered more than 30 years ago at Mrima Hill, south-west of Mombasa, but have not been worked. They are now known to overlie a carbonatite centre, in which large tonnages of pyrochlore, monazite and rare-earth minerals are present. The ores consist largely of psilomelane and hausmannite associated with iron oxides and usually with some barytes. Similar ores are said to have been struck in boreholes for water in other parts of southern Coast Province. Preliminary estimates indicate that the reserves of ore on Mrima Hill amount to over 600,000 tons, and from numerous examples analyzed it appears that the average content of manganese will lie between 20 and 30 percent.
Other deposits of manganese in coastal sediments have been investigated at Kiwara, south-west of Kilifi. The ores those of Mrima, but judging from analyses it is probable Ithat pockets of pyrolusite are also present. Ore reserves indicated by drilling by the Mines and Geological Department in 1964 amount to 443,000 long tons at a grade of 24 percent Mn02. Manganese ores are also known in fault veins in the Lali Hills in the Galana Valley
About 1 million tonnes of Manganese and the potential of more is lying dormant in the South Coast this is a literal gold mine.
Pyrochlore.—This mineral occurs in the carbonatite complexes of Homa. Ruri. Rangwa, Buru Hill near Muhoroni. and at Mrima. The last has been intensely explored by Government geologists and prospectors. and subsequently by a mining company. The mineral is concentrated in residual and weathered deposits that cap the hill to a considerable depth; it is fine grained and disseminated and the discovery of an econo- mically attractive method of extraction presents a serious problem. Overall reserves exceeding 41 million short tons at a grade of 0.6? per cent NbZOm and 1% million short tons at 1.75 per cent NbgoE in more specific areas indicate that the Mrima deposit must rank as one of the larger potential sources of niobium in the world.
Wollastonite occurs in ijolitic rocks associated with carbonatite limestones in western Kenya. notably Ruri and Usaki. and at several places in crystalline limestones of the Basement System. The largest known deposit lies a: Lolkidongai in Kajiado District where inferred reserves amount to 200.000 short tons of ore at :1 grade of 27 per cent CaSiO
a ruby and. it is reported. some diamonds were found about 40 years ago in gravels in the Chaina River at Thika. The occurrence was later worked by a prospector who after many months failed to find diamonds. though numerous small rubies and sapphires were extracted. An area around Ndarugu was the scene of a “diamond rush” in the early years of the century. but no records are known of what was found. It is rumored that small pitted diamonds. which were then of no value, were panned. but there is no confirmation of this. A few small diamonds were recovered in the Kakamega area during the washing of grayels for gold. and it is stated that a single diamond was obtained by panning gravels in the River Suam in West Pokot 35 years ago. Moonstones are known in river grayels at the coast. associated with small fragments of gem-quality green and blue kyanite.
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Why isn’t the government marketing us as a mineral hotspot? I am yet to read the recent mineral mapping project who has those details?