Government has re-launched the tender to revive Kilembe Mines. In Kasese, former miners, cooperative farmers and district officials weigh what a serious operator would need to bring and what the last false starts have cost.
By Rebecca Nabirye..Kasese District.7 min read
Kasese District. 4 November 2025.
MixedMining & Communities
The Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines (DGSM) has re-issued the tender for the Kilembe Mines concession, half a century after the original operator wound down. In Kasese Town, the news lands with the calm of a community that has heard this before.
What a credible operator would need to bring
Former mine workers and district technical staff are consistent on the essentials: a fully financed rehabilitation plan for the historic tailings and the Nyamwamba catchment, a workforce strategy that trains locally rather than importing crews. A stabilisation programme for the slopes above the concession that repeatedly failed during the last floods.
What the community wants written into the deal
Cooperative farmers along the Nyamwamba want the water-quality baselines published before mining resumes. Traders in Kasese want a local buying floor, similar to models already operating in the gold-bearing Lake Victoria Green Belt in eastern Uganda. Both asks are procedural, not obstructive, and both would sit naturally inside the Mining and Minerals Act 2022 licensing rules.
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The regulatory bar a new operator must clear
Any bidder for the Kilembe concession must satisfy the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines that its environmental and social impact assessment addresses the historic tailings left by the original operator, a legacy liability that has deterred at least two previous attempted revivals since the mine's closure. The Mining and Minerals Act 2022 also needs a funded mine-closure plan to be lodged before large-scale operations begin, a requirement that did not exist when Kilembe first opened decades ago and that officials say has raised the credibility bar for this latest tender.
The Ministry of Energy has said it wants a bidder capable of financing both the copper and the associated cobalt recovery, arguing that a combined mineral stream improves the project's overall economics enough to justify the environmental remediation cost. Independent mining analysts are more cautious, noting that several previous Kilembe tenders attracted interest that did not survive due diligence on the tailings liability alone.
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Kilembe has been re-tendered before. The difference this time has to be a closure plan with money behind it, not just a mine plan.
Mining sector analyst, Kampala
What Kasese residents and district officials say they will judge the process on is whether the winning bid, once announced, includes a published timeline for the Nyamwamba catchment remediation, rather than leaving that work as an afterthought to production.
Evidence & documents
Every claim above is checked against the records below. Open each one to see where it comes from.
01Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines▾
Record held by Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.
