A Rwandan tin smelting plant, LuNa Smelter, has been certified as a conflict free smelter by the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP).
The qualification is part of a programme, Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), which has been conducting assessment to validate smelters’ company-level management processes for responsible mineral procurement.
Following the evaluation, LuNa Smelter was fully compliant to the requirements of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chain of Minerals as well as meets the demands of the mineral certification scheme of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
Radoslaw Miskiewicz, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of LuNa Smelter said that the development was proof of the company’s efforts to source responsibly while producing highest quality tin ingots.
"This is a sign that LuNa Smelter adopts best due diligence practices in order to operate in safe and responsible manner that respects the environment, employees, customers and the communities in which the company operates in,” Miskiewicz said.
The government views the certification as a confirmation that Rwanda is a conflict free source of minerals.
Francis Gatare, the CEO of Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB) said that over the years, Rwanda has always maintained that the country does not deal with conflict minerals.
"This comes as a confirmation to what we have always proven to the world: Rwanda is a conflict-free source of minerals. We have put in place different measures including deployment of tag managers at mining concessions to seal and record minerals produced in order to efficiently monitor and contain potential illegal dealing in minerals,” said Gatare.
The development is also in line with the 7 year development blue-print, National Strategy for Transformation which among other things seeks increase revenues, achieve sustainability in mining.
"This achievement is in line with the government’s 7-year program "National Strategy for Transformation” and contributes to the responsible, sustainable and environmentally friendly development of the mining sector,” he said.
Rwanda is re-designing the mining sector in order to transform mining resources into key drivers of the country’s growth during the National Strategy for Transformation.
The mining sector in Rwanda is going through a transition, as is the case with many African countries, moving from its traditional nature of small-scale exploitation with limited links to the rest of the economy to being a major foreign currency earner.
Rwanda has a vision to become a regional mineral processing hub, adding value to minerals mined in Rwanda and the region before exporting them.
The mining sector has been growing at an average rate of 20 per cent since 2006-2007 according to government statistics.
Mining and quarrying activities in Rwanda employ more than 40,000 people.
The country targets to further increase minerals export revenues to $800 million by 2020 and $1.5 billion annually by 2024.
LuNa Smelter was established in 2018 by a European Industrial Group – Luma Holding in partnership with a Rwandan Investment Group – Ngali Holdings and was commissioned in 2019, the Smelter started producing high quality tin ingots.
The firm entered the local market on acquiring operations of Karuruma Tin Smelter, whose activities had stalled following the challenges on the part of the previous investor, Phoenix Metal Ltd.
Ngali Holdings, and Luma Holdings, a Polish firm, co-invested $7 million (about Rwf6.3 billion) to revive the operations of the smelter.
The facility is now able to process more than 300 tonnes of cassiterite per month, or around 12 tonnes a day.