State closes in on developer for Mrima Hill mineral deposit in Kwale

Mrima Hill in Lunga-Lunga, Kwale County. The hill’s rich niobium and rare earth deposits have put Kwale at the centre of growing global interest in critical minerals. (Photo: Courtesy)

Kenya is nearing a decision on who will develop the Mrima Hill critical minerals deposit in Kwale County, with five groups having submitted bids for the potentially lucrative project.

According to Mining Cabinet Secretary (CS) Hassan Joho, the government expects to award the project to a successful bidder in the coming weeks, bringing it closer to developing a deposit believed to contain substantial quantities of rare earth minerals and niobium.

“Within the next two to three weeks we should be able to award Mrima Hills to the successful bidder,” Joho told Reuters.

Located about 65 kilometres from Mombasa, Mrima Hill is considered one of Kenya’s most promising mineral deposits.

Preliminary indicators suggest it could contain $62 billion (Sh8 trillion) worth of rare earth minerals and niobium, although this is an estimated value of the minerals and not the amount Kenya would necessarily earn from mining them.

Rare earth minerals are used to manufacture products such as mobile phones, electric vehicles and wind turbines, while niobium is used in making strong metal alloys for industries including aerospace manufacturing.

According to the Mining CS, American companies had shown strong interest in the project, with three of the five bidding groups that submitted tenders on October 21 having links to the United States.

The US-linked bidders include Meridian Mineral Holdings, which brings together Fluor Corp and Tetra Tech; Frontier Minerals LLC, which includes ReElement Technologies; and Mrima Earth, led by Critical Metals Corp.

The other contenders are Australia’s RareX, which has partnered with Iluka Resources, and the Kenyan-British joint venture Gem of Dreams.

The tender process has also seen two Chinese companies, Hunan Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals and Jinan Yuxiao Group, withdraw from the race. Joho said he did not know why the companies had pulled out, adding that the government had not held direct discussions with the bidders.

“We haven’t had any conversation with anybody, and we haven’t offered any alternative to anybody… We want a transparent process,” he said.

“I don’t think it is in the place of anybody to tell us how and who to work with. Our decisions are purely informed by the interest of this country.”

The project comes as Kenya seeks to get more value from its mineral resources by encouraging local processing instead of exporting raw materials.