Uganda has received planes and technical experts to begin conducting an aerial assessment of its mineral wealth beneath the Karamoja sub region.
This development comes at a time there are concerns that Uganda exports more gold than it actually mines.
According to Dr Mary Kitutu, Energy and Minerals Minister, the data on the type, quality and quantities of minerals available under the ground across Karamoja, will be identified over the next one year.
Details also indicate that a massive U$20million has been injected for this aggressive aerial mineral magnetic survey on the resource rich Karamoja sub region.
Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, says this development will grow investor confidence, shake off speculators and elevate the country on a commercial pedestal for harnessing the mineral resource.
Gold exports more than doubled in the period between January 2018 and January 2019, according to data from Bank of Uganda (BoU).
According to official statistics, gold exports surged to US$514M in 2018 from less than US$10M a decade ago. In 2018 gold surpassed coffee as Uganda’s biggest earner of foreign currency.