Cabinet has approved a 20.6 million Euro Loan (approximately Shillings 84billion) from the Corporate Internationalization Fund of Spain to fund an airborne survey and geological mapping of Karamoja.
According to government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo, there has been a long standing belief that Karamoja has endowed with numerous minerals whose quality and quantity is unknown.
The money will be used to finance airborne geological and geophysical survey mapping in Karamoja.
Addressing journalists at Uganda Media Centre on Tuesday morning, Opondo said that the project will enable Government complete the airborne geophysical map of the country to establish the available mineral resources in the country especially in Karamoja region.
According to cabinet, Government department and universities will benefit from the mineral data to facilitate research.
The project will also improve the technologies of artisanal and small scale miners through providing better mining equipment.
Karamoja, which is considered “the basket of Uganda’s minerals”, is thought to host deposits of minerals such as uranium, zinc, copper, cobalt, tungsten, beryllium, gold and oil. Gold mining is one of the major economic activities in Karamoja mainly conducted by artisanal miners.
In a bid to improve the mineral and Oil mining in Karamoja sub region, government opened a regional office for the Directorate of Geological Survey in Moroto district in 2018.
The office is expected to accommodate the regional surveyor, ecologists and other staff from the directorate.
With this loan, government also hopes to improve on the lives of people living in mining communities.
