Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Cabinet Secretary (CS) Salim Mvurya on Wednesday, 25, 2024 revealed the discovery of Coltan deposits in six Kenyan counties.
Speaking in Embu County, the CS disclosed that the mineral deposits were identified in Turkana, Embu, Samburu, Tana River, Kitui and West Pokot counties.
Coltan is a crucial mineral found in everyday technology products.
From smartphones to laptops to advanced medical equipment, a range of electronic devices like computers and games consoles have coltan as a fundamental building block.
Coltan is the short form for columbite-tantalite, a dull metallic ore.
When refined, coltan becomes a heat resistant powder, metallic tantalum, which has unique properties for storing electrical charge.
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Other Countries Where Coltan Is Mined
The mineral coltan is one of the resources that is playing an important role in the technological revolution.
Coltan ore itself hosts technology minerals tantalum and niobium.
Brazil, Canada and Australia are among the world leading producers of tantalum and niobium mineral concentrates.
However, the Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC is the global leader in tantalum production by quite a large margin, followed by Brazil.
The third largest producer is Rwanda, which borders the DRC.
Cost and Mining Procedure
Coltan is used in many electronics today around the world due to its unique electrical properties.
Private firms offer price from ksh4,905 to ksh12,262 per kilogram.
The recent technology boom caused the price of coltan to skyrocket to as much as ksh65,400 for a kilogram at one point, as companies such as Nokia and Sony struggled to meet demand.
Approximately 80% of the world’s supply of Coltan is found in the DRC.
Coltan is mined through a fairly primitive process.
Dozens of men work together digging large craters in streambeds, scraping away dirt from the surface in order to get to the coltan underground.
The workers then slosh water and mud around in large washtubs, allowing the coltan to settle to the bottom due to its heavy weight.
A good worker can produce one kilogram of coltan a day.
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Why it matters to Kenya
This discovery holds considerable promises for the nation, allowing Kenya to manufacture affordable phones and become a key supplier of materials on the global stage.
President William Ruto had previously pledged to make phones available in Kenya for as low as Ksh5,000.
“The real last mile in technology is the gadget and already we are working with our Telcos so that we can have a smartphone that will go for less than Ksh5000. A smartphone that can do everything you want.
“I want to promise the country that in the next eight to 12 months we will have the cheapest smartphone in Africa, manufactured in Kenya,” Ruto said in November 2022.
