Uganda has opened its first large-scale gold mine, a $250 million project run by Chinese-owned Wagagai Mining (U) Ltd. The site in Busia district was inaugurated in mid-August, according to the president’s office.
The mine covers more than nine square kilometers in eastern Uganda. It is built to process 5,000 tons of ore per day and is expected to produce about 1.2 metric tons of refined gold a year. Uganda’s total domestic output in 2023 was just 0.0042 metric tons, almost all of it from artisanal miners.
Gold is already Uganda’s top export. It brought in $3.4 billion last year, equal to 37 percent of national export earnings. Most of that revenue came from re-exported gold. Ghana, Africa’s biggest exporter, earned $11.6 billion in the same period.
President Yoweri Museveni said the project reflects his policy of adding value to minerals before export. He stressed that refining gold, lithium and tin locally would bring greater returns and support economic growth.
Revenue from the mine is also earmarked for infrastructure. Museveni pointed to new power stations and a planned €2.7 billion standard-gauge railway that would link Uganda to Kenyan ports. Officials say the Busia project marks a shift from small-scale mining to industrial production. They expect the facility to boost foreign exchange reserves, draw new investment and retain more value inside the country.
