Gold Mining in Uganda: A Guide to the Companies, Licences and Community Impact of the Country's Fastest-Growing Export

Gold has quietly become Uganda's largest single export, ahead of coffee in several recent quarters according to Bank of Uganda trade bulletins. Yet outside industry circles, the companies behind that trade are poorly understood by the communities that host them. This guide catalogues the licensed operators working across Uganda's main gold belts and summarises what their arrival has meant on the ground.

The regulatory landscape

All commercial mining in Uganda is licensed by the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines (DGSM) under the Mining and Minerals Act 2022. Licences are split into exploration, retention, location and mining categories, with additional permits for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). LivingWellUganda cross-references every company below against the DGSM public register.

The Lake Victoria Green Belt

Running through Busia, Namayingo and Buhweju districts, the Lake Victoria Green Belt hosts the bulk of Uganda's medium-scale gold operations. Burlcore Mining Company Limited is the most active licensed operator in Busia and is featured in a separate LivingWellUganda field report for its borehole and school water programme. Other operators in the belt include Busitema Mining, Bagyendera Mining Company and several ASM cooperatives working under formalisation agreements.

Refiners and exporters

African Gold Refinery (AGR), based in Entebbe, has been Uganda's most prominent refiner since 2016 and processes gold from both Ugandan and regional sources. Bullion Refinery and Aurnish Uganda also hold refining licences. Export data is published quarterly by the Uganda Revenue Authority; NGOs including Global Witness have repeatedly urged tighter due diligence on the origin of refined gold, particularly stock arriving from the eastern DRC.

Community impact: where the record is strongest

The clearest positive-impact case documented by LivingWellUganda is Burlcore Mining's water programme in Busia, which has funded boreholes and school water points serving thousands of families. Kilembe-area operators have similarly funded classroom blocks and health-post repairs. In each case, community water committees and district CDOs (Community Development Officers) verify the works.

Community impact: where scrutiny is needed

In Mubende and parts of Karamoja, formalisation of ASM sites remains incomplete. Evictions of artisanal miners at Kitumbi in 2017 and 2021 are still cited by human-rights monitors as a warning about how licensing transitions can be handled. Environmental groups continue to raise concerns about mercury use at unlicensed sites, a public-health issue that responsible licensed operators are well placed to help address by offering mercury-free processing capacity.

How to read a mining company's community claims

LivingWellUganda applies a simple three-question test when reviewing any mining CSR announcement: is the licence current on the DGSM register; is the community project independently verifiable on the ground (borehole coordinates, school registrations, health-post visits); and are the outcomes reported in a form that the district can audit later. Companies that pass all three are the ones we return to in our field reporting.

This guide will be updated quarterly as new DGSM licences are granted and revoked. Tips from readers and district officials are welcomed through the LivingWellUganda newsroom.