African Mining Circle, September 27th: According to a report in the New Age, Francis Gatare, CEO of the Rwanda Mining, Petroleum and Gas Bureau (RMB), said that Rwanda’s mining industry is expected to soon recover from the Covid-19 epidemic. Recovered from the adverse effects that came.
Rwanda’s mining sector, like many other sectors in the world, has been adversely affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, mainly due to the government’s complete lockdown in mid-March and the suspension of all operations.
In addition, due to the decline in purchasing power caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the decline in international mineral prices, the sector has been hit hard.
Air travel restrictions in different countries have also made mineral supply almost impossible.
In Rwanda, tin (tin), tungsten (tungsten) and tantalum (3Ts) have been hit the most, and the country is one of the world's largest metal producers.
Statistics show that due to the decline in international commodity prices in January and February 2020, the country's 3Ts export revenue has fallen by 30.9% compared with the same period in 2019.
Catel said that the early resumption of mining activities aroused hope that the industry will soon recover. "So far, the mining sector has accounted for 80% of the business. In the long term, we believe that Rwanda will continue to play an important role in the mineral supply business, as local mining companies have begun to resume operations."
Catel said: "Overall, we are optimistic about the recovery, optimistic about the track we are heading, we will soon start operating at 100%, and then begin to count the positive growth of the industry."
Mining activities resumed in early May, but not all mining companies started operations immediately, even those companies that have already started operations are smaller than before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mining is one of the government’s priority areas for recovery in its economic recovery plan, which runs from May 2020 to December 2021.
According to the plan, the government plans to reorganize small mining operators and merge many of them into collective investment groups.
Mining companies see positive trends
LuNa Smelter is the only tin producer and exporter in East and Central Africa. Robert Nowak, the company's managing director, pointed out that the company is seeing positive trends after it recently resumed operations.
Novak said: "In the past few months, we have been in a state of discontinuation, but we used this time to carry out extensive maintenance work and key adjustments to ensure good quality. Very good, after resuming operations, we see With the positive trends in international prices and demand, we are optimistic that we are moving in a better direction."
Rwanda’s goal is to become a mineral center focused on processing and trade, as evidenced by the establishment of a gold refining and tin smelting center. This is expected to increase the value of minerals before export and create more employment opportunities.
