Abstract
Uganda aspires to exploit its abundant iron ore resources to supply the required raw material for developing its iron and steel industry across all the phases of the value chain. The country imports USD 369 million worth of iron and steel products annually, 60% of which are raw materials for the steel processing plants. The National Planning Authority, the government planning agency, undertook a study to assess the possibility of using the iron ore deposits available in the country, as a source of supply for iron and steel production. In the study, available geological literature was collected from various sources and analysed in order to understand the mode of iron ore mineralization in Uganda, particularly, that in the South West. A field excursion to the deposits was conducted in order to ground truth the information obtained from literature research; carry out a detailed reconnaissance study so as to benchmark the likely scenarios required in the development of the iron and steel value chain; and establish the likely mining and processing requirements of the deposits. The reconnaissance survey confirmed the existence of hematite deposits that visually show characteristics of high-quality iron ore (55% - 68% Fe) suitable for iron production. From surficial investigations, the deposits are mainly comprised of thin beds of mineralisation. The deposits occur in the form of massive hematite, which is amenable to mining and direct feed to the ore processing plants, and specularite hematite (a metamorphic platy variety), which normally requires mineral processing for amenability to reduction processes. From the analysis, the country has sufficient deposits of a high grade that can support a steel industry, though more detailed quantifications and characterisations need to be prioritised by the government.
Highlights
Uganda aspires to become an upper middle income country by the year 2040 and the national planning frameworks [1] [2] [3] have earmarked the development of the country’s iron and steel industry, based on the existing natural iron ore resources, among the key interventions to be used to achieve the desired vision
Available geological literature was collected from various sources and analysed in order to understand the mode of iron ore mineralization in Uganda, that in the South West
Available geological literature was collected from various sources, mainly from the Directorate of the Geological Survey and Mines (DGSM) based in Entebbe, Uganda and analysed in order to understand the mode of iron ore mineralization in Uganda—in particular, iron ore deposits of South Western Uganda
Summary
Uganda aspires to become an upper middle income country by the year 2040 and the national planning frameworks [1] [2] [3] have earmarked the development of the country’s iron and steel industry, based on the existing natural iron ore resources, among the key interventions to be used to achieve the desired vision. Between the two ironstone deposits, the hematite ores of South Western Uganda are considered more prospective with potential for huge discoveries They are of a superior grade with most of the samples collected in the area posting iron content ranging from 55% to 68% Fe as opposed to magnetite deposits of Eastern Uganda with iron content of 40% to 62% Fe, as is highlighted in Table 1 and later in this paper. For this reason, the iron ore deposits of South Western Uganda are considered as the preferred source of raw material for the proposed integrated iron and steel value chain development. The deposit is comprised of a series of thin beds ranging from 5 m to about 100 m wide, with a general Northwest-Southeast (NW-SE) strike direction and dipping at 30 ̊SW to almost vertical
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