Gold bars on display/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 13 – A gold refinery centre in Nairobi is expected to start operations in April 2017 with the aim of boosting exploitation of small-scale trading.
The Sh5 billion factory along Mombasa road is expected to smelt and refine gold, silver and platinum metals.
Sitting on five acres along Mombasa Road, the plant will be the first hub in the East African region to fully refine gold to the international purity standards.
According to the ministry of Mining, Kenya has vast opportunities for exploration of gold with only 4 percent of the gold belt in Kenya currently under exploration.
Industry data indicate artisanal mining accounts for more than 60 percent of annual gemstone production in Kenya.
Kenya plans to incorporate small-scale miners in the mineral production and exports, as it seeks to grow the mineral earning tenfold by 2030.
Analysts say Kenya is expected to tap gold reserves in East African countries and the DRC which take raw gold to South Africa for refining, costing them more compared to refining regionally in Nairobi.
