By Leo Odera Omollo
February 8th, 2009
A South African company has struck gold in Trans Mara district in the south rift of Kenya’s rift valley province.
Gold plant has been prospecting for gold in the district .it has started production and there are indications of high deposits of the precious metal worth commercial mining.
Trans Mara district is situated about 400 km southwest of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi and only about 20km to the famous Maasai Mara tourist resort.
Gold plant CEO Demetri manolic has said that the form: flagship, kilimapesa gold mining project has already gone into full throat production.
The project is 50-50 joint venture with inter gold exploration ,as gold plant is one of the nine companies prospecting the mineral of transmara,migori,homa-bay,siaya, bondo and kaka mega according to the government records
Other firms are east African pure gold ltd and covenant mining ltd of America which are prospecting in migori, homabay international gold exploration of Sweden through its local subsidiary sebimu exploration ltd that has been active in trans- Mara and migori and afrione of South Africa working in homa-bay, siaya and migori.
Manolic said in a press release that a kshs 10 million refurbishment plant for the recovery plant has been constructed and completed.
The plant included the installation of a new mill motor, a new crushing circuit and a thickening, an upgrade to each section and a new pumping reticulation circuit, replacement of the electrical recirculation circuit and a general upgrading of the safety aspects of the plant.
“Those improvements will enhance gold recovery rates and in turn increase operational economics of scale” he said, adding that the project had the support of the government agencies and it was in the process of acquiring a mining license.
It had submitted an environmental impact assessment to the national management authority (NEMA).
In the colonial years multinational companies used to conducting mining business in Lolgorien and Nyamongo area of Trans-Mara district, and also in Macalder and Masara gold mines in Migori district.
There was the famous story of massive gold rush off Kakamega in the early 1930s and also in Naingiga area of Bondo district, Kitere in Rongo and other places, but most of these companies closed down and moved out shortly before independence in 1963.
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com