The Cabinet on July 16 approved applications for mineral, quarry and exploration licenses, in line with continued efforts to boost mining in the country, according to a statement from the Office of Prime Minister. However, the statement did not provide details on the licenses. According to the statement, the cabinet was briefed on the progress of Rwanda's mining sector, which continues to play a strategic role in economic transformation. “The sector has experienced a significant growth in production, investment and discovery of high-value minerals,” the statement reads in part. Currently, the mining sector is Rwanda’s largest earner of export revenues. In 2024, mineral export revenues reached $1.7 billion (approx. Rwf2.4 trillion), up by 54 per cent from $1.1 billion in 2023, according to official data. The government targets to generate $2.17 billion in annual mineral exports by 2029, under the second National Strategy for Transformation (NST2). During a session held on July 15, with the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) MPs observed the report of the Auditor General for the 2023/2024 financial year showed that the Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB) indicated 52 areas with mineral potential across the country. However, the audit showed that exploration to obtain information that can be based on for exploitation was only carried out on 18 of them — representing over 34 per cent of the targeted areas. RMB officials responded that research goes through phases, indicating that all the 52 targeted sites could not be covered at once, citing budget requirements among the factors to consider saying that they expect to complete the exploration exercise within three years. In a related development, last week, Aterian Plc, a UK-based critical minerals exploration company, announced that it had found high-grade lithium deposits in Rwanda, following a drilling exercise in collaboration with Rio Tinto — a British-Australian mining corporation.
