Kiganda Ssonko
18 July 2007
Kampala — UGANDA is endowed with over 50 minerals, ranking it among the countries in Africa with the biggest number of minerals, the assistant commissioner in charge of geology has said.
"Uganda's metallic and non-metallic minerals are over 50 in number. But there are many unknown minerals whose existence shall be made known after completion of the two ongoing airborne geo-physical surveys, covering 80% of Uganda's land," Samson Byamugisha said.
He made the announcement during a sensitisation workshop for Local Council leaders of Kibaale, Mityana, Mubende and Kiboga about the surveys at Enron Hotel in Mityana town.
Byamugisha said successful mining countries like Tanzania, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Australia carried out surveys to expose their mineral wealth.
"As a country, we couldn't know what we had if we had not carried out surveys in the past three decades.
These were slightly smaller surveys but the minerals we know today were exposed by them. This time, surveys are being conducted along survey lines spaced at between 200 and 500 metres and at a constant height of 80 metres, which is a low distance and with modern planes," he explained recently.
The minerals can be used for making, electronics, chemicals, fertilisers, steel, jewellry, ceramics, aluminum products, weapons, glass, cement, tiles, salt, fire proofs, batteries and for painting.
The other minerals include copper, cobalt, diamond, kaolin, limestone, marble, phosphates, uranium, glass (silca sand), wolfram, nikel, diamond, tin, titanium, natural gas, iron ore, lead, granite, soapstone, asbestos and the platinum group of minerals like palladium and platinum-palladium-rhodium and tungsten/ wolframite/scheelite.
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