Kwale based Australian mining firm Base Titanium is expediting the restoration of mined-out areas following the depletion of mining reserves.
Restoration activities are ongoing and include establishment of the biodiversity corridor and a successful wetland restoration program in the mining lease area.
Rehabilitation of mined-out areas begins by shaping the area into dunes similar to those that existed before mining to ensure natural drainage areas are followed.
After that shaping and topsoil spreading, manuring and mulching is done to enhance soil organic matter to prepare for vegetation.
Base Titanium announced that it will cease mining activities in Kwale by the end of 2024 citing the depletion of minerals in their operational areas.
The company has been mining rutile, ilmenite and zircon all critical minerals since 2013 accounting for approximately 65 percent of Kenya’s mineral output by value.
Kwale mine operations is the country’s largest mine and is recognized as a flagship project under the Vision 2030 national development blueprint.
Mining Cabinet Secretary (CS) Hassan Joho has expressed satisfaction at the level of environmental restoration of the former mining sites.
CS Joho says planning for mine site closure, decommissioning and rehabilitation is a critical component of environmental management in the mining sector.
“I am actually impressed about the level of land reclamation which was intensively done here by Base Titanium,” he said.
He said without large-scale foreign investment like Base Titanium the mining industry in Kenya would be slow to take off.
Joho says the greatest challenge facing the mining industry in the country is how best to exploit the precious mineral resources without destroying the fragile environment.
Speaking while on an inaugural familiarization tour of Base Titanium sites Joho stated that there is also the need to practice responsible mining to sustain the environment for future use.
CS Joho says he is happy that Base Titanium has been contributing to socio-economic progress and community welfare in the coastal county of Kwale and the entire coastal region through employment of youths, business opportunities for local entrepreneurs and also community development and empowerment programmes.
From directly employing 1,600 people, the firm has also spent over Sh4 billion for enhancement of social infrastructure for community empowerment through projects in health, livelihood improvement programs, education and improving social infrastructure.
The CS was accompanied by Kwale Deputy Governor Chirema Kombo, Mining Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi Kwale MPs Feisal Bader (Msambweni), Kassim Tandaza (Matuga) Mangale Chiforomodo (Lungalunga), Kwale Senator Issa Boy and Kwale Woman Representative Fatuma Masito.
The CS and his entourage extensively toured the mine sites to see fast hand the rehabilitated lands and said it encouraged the level of rehabilitation and ecological restoration of areas disturbed by mining activities to a condition that is safe, stable and non-polluting.
Joho noted that going forward the government will not entertain illegal miners who leave the land bare after their operations.
The Mining CS commended Base Titanium as a model for future sustainable mining ventures and a shining example of how minerals can transform lives, shape futures and uplift communities.
At the same time CS Joho acknowledged the demands by Kwale county government of its share of the Sh2.9 billion royalties from minerals operations held by the National Treasury since 2016.
Kwale, Kilifi and Kajiado out of 32 mineral rich counties are supposed to receive the lion’s share of the mining proceeds held by the national government.
Joho said he will work overdrive to ensure the mineral funds which were approved quite a while back are released to the devolved governments without further delay.
According to the Mining Act of 2016 sharing of mineral royalties is given at a ratio of 70 per cent to the national government, 20 per cent to the county government and 10 per cent to the local communities to ensure equitable distribution of benefits from the mining sector.
Base Titanium External Affairs General Manager Simon Wall stated that the mining firm will cease operations in December 2024 having failed to find new mineral resources to extend its mining operations.
Mr. Wall says as part of the process of winding down its mining operations Base Titanium has commissioned feasibility studies to establish the best way to utilize the land after operations formally ceases.
The top mining official says the mining firm has been carrying out progressive reclamation which starts immediately one part of the land has been used without waiting for the entire area to be mined out.
He says Base Titanium is committed to operating in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner and is working to accelerate the rehabilitation of former mining sites ahead of cessation of mining operations.
He says Base Titanium has kicked off in earnest systematic post-mining closure phases and land reclamation plans ahead of cessation of mining operations in December after resource exhaustion.
Wall says several options currently being considered in the Post Land Mining Use (PLMU) include large-scale agriculture, sustainable conservation and industrial training.
He says the Kwale operations has significant infrastructure that can be harnessed for post mining land use such as the 8.6 gigalitres Mukurumudzi dam (a gigalitre is one billion litres) litres, water piping systems, the 10 km paved access road, the 16 km long power transmission line, the training facility workshops, offices and the indigenous plant and tree nurseries.
By Hussein Abdullahi
