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MBARARA - President Yoweri Museveni launched Uganda's first tin refining plant in Ruti, Mbarara city on Friday.

The facility is owned by Woodcross Resources, a company composed of a mining division focused on the exploration, development and operation of mining licences in Uganda, a commercial-scale tin refinery located in Mbarara.

It also has a mineral trading division, purchasing concentrate from audited mining sites across the Great Lakes Region of East Africa.

An employee of Woodcross Tin Smelting Refinery on duty during the commissioning in Mbarara on Friday. (All photos by PPU Photo)

Tin is a type of mineral ore that contains tin, a soft, malleable, silvery-white metal. 
Tin is commonly used in various applications, including as a coating for other metals to prevent corrosion, in the production of solders, as a component in electronics, and in the manufacturing of tin cans.

During the launch, Museveni, who was accompanied by First Daughter Natasha Museveni Karugire, re-emphasized his call for value-addition to Uganda's raw materials like minerals.

He said when minerals are exported unprocessed, Uganda loses a lot of revenue and other benefits that could steer the country's socio- economic transformation.

President Museveni accompanied by Natasha Karugire with Omedi Ameri, the Managing Director Woodcross Tin Smelting Refinery in Mbarara, and his team during the commissioning of the factory in Mbarara.

“When it came to minerals, that is when we told them that if you do not want to add value, then we shall not allow you to export and I banned all exports of unprocessed minerals. 

"Let the minerals stay in the ground, they have been there for a million years. If the present leaders don't know how to do it, let them stay there, when more intelligent people come, they will do the needful. I will not be part of the crime of stealing people,” said the President.

“They have been paying sh45,000 per kilogramme for the unprocessed mineral but now once you process this stone and turn it into tin, the prices go up by three times almost, from sh45,000 to sh120,000. 

President Museveni talks to Omedi Ameri (L) Managing director Woodcross Tin Smelting Refinery in Mbarara on Friday as Ministers Nankabirwa and Musenero (R) look on during the commissioning of the factory.

"But secondly, that processing needs employees and a factory like this one. If the minerals had been taken out unprocessed, these jobs would not be here. But that is not all; when the factory is here, he cannot use his electricity and water from Canada, he must use the ones here and he pays for them and other benefits."

Museveni said value addition on tin will attract more investors to Uganda who use the mineral as raw material since it reduces the cost of doing business.

“It will now be easy for other manufacturers to use the tin directly,” he said. 

Managing director Woodcross Tin Smelting Refinery in Mbarara Omedi Ameri addresses guests during its commissioning on Friday.

“I want to thank Woodcross, thank you for being Christians because Christians behave in a fair way and I believe also the Muslims believe in the same; let the country which has got the minerals get the advantages of those minerals but you also get your share.”

The President also cautioned Ugandans against leaders who squander African wealth.
“When the NRM came, we told you from the beginning that we are not part of that group of people who want to be leaders and don't know what needs to be done. That is very dangerous.”

Meanwhile, Museveni contributed sh30 million to the SACCO of LC1 chairpersons in Mbarara city and sh50 million to Pentecostal churches in the city.

President Museveni accompanied by Natasha Karugire is taken on a guided tour of Woodcross Tin Smelting Refinery in Mbarara after the commissioning of the facility on Friday.

99.85% purity

Energy minister Ruth Nankabirwa thanked President Museveni for his persistence on mineral value addition that has enabled the country to have its first tin-processing plant. 

“Your Excellency, I remember, when I joined the ministry, there was a Cabinet paper which had stayed in Cabinet for a long time because you were insisting on value addition," she told him.

"I tried to present it, but there was a clause in that paper which indicated that we cannot achieve like 99 percent level of purity in tin because we don't have the industry. So we have to go slowly by slowly as industries come up. 

Some of the guests who turned up for the commissioning of Woodcross Tin Smelting Refinery in Mbarara on Friday.

"You chased me away from Cabinet two times with my team and you created a Cabinet committee which I chair. So we went out determined to implement the directive on the ban of exportation of unprocessed minerals and also, we went to guide the companies on mineral beneficiation, and we were insisting on mineral value addition," recounted Nankabirwa.

She also informed the President that companies which have not been adding value to the country's minerals have run out of business.

“I must congratulate Woodcross Resources for setting up the tin smelting plant, the first of its kind in Uganda. Woodcross determined the level of purity because they have the smelters and they were also allowed to export samples and when they got back to me with the determined level of purity of 99.9 percent, my team and I in the Ministry were satisfied.

Some of the workers on duty at Woodcross Tin Smelting Refinery in Mbarara on Friday.

"And therefore, using the Attorney General, I signed a statutory instrument confirming the level of purity of tin smelted and refined in Uganda as 99.85 percent and above. 
"Whoever is interested in tin mining and smelting, the level of purity which is already determined is 99.85 percent and above. That is what every tin smelter will follow,” said the energy minister.

'Wakeup call'

Mineral development state minister Phiona Nyamutoro told Museveni that with the factory's launch, "all the doubting Thomases get to see that your vision has always been clear from the word go".

“Your Excellency, the launch of this company is a wakeup call to very many young people across the country and I hope this goes as a resounding echo encouraging them to equip themselves with the necessary skills so that they are able to be utilised by such establishment," she said.

President Museveni addresses guests after commissioning Woodcross Tin Smelting Refinery in Mbarara on Friday.8

"And as we look forward to bettering the mineral sector, we would have young people directly involved in the mineral value chain so that we fasttrack the development of our country.”

Mbarara city South MP Mwine Mpaka told the President that "what we are celebrating here is what you have always preached".

"I would also like to congratulate the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development led by Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa for this wonderful achievement because it is not only going to add value to our raw materials, but also provide employment,” said the legislator.

'Promise fulfilled'

Woodcross Resources managing director Omid Ameri said they have fulfilled a promise made to the President two years ago of setting up a tin refinery in Uganda.

“Woodcross acquired its first mining licence in Ruhama, Ntungamo district in April, 2022, one day before the

Some of the guests who turned up for the commissioning of Woodcross Tin Smelting Refinary in Mbarara on Friday.

"That decision by yourself made us go down the path of establishing this refinery as you see it today. We met you in the State House in August 2022 and we promised you that we will build this facility. 

"I am proud to be standing with our partners at the Ministry of Energy to confirm to you that we fulfilled the promise that we made to you two years ago,” said Ameri.

  “We need to understand why tin is important in order to really understand the significance of this project. If you look at the supply of tin globally, it has been concentrated in the hands of five or six countries for the last decades. Those countries include China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru and Brazil. 

Some of the guests who turned up for the commissioning of Woodcross Tin Smelting Refinery in Mbarara on Friday.

"Now for the last few decades, all these countries are struggling to bring the product to market because reserves globally are declining, so this provides a significant opportunity for a country like Uganda to establish a refinery like this and cement itself as a trusted producer of refined tin in the global market."

Ameri noted that the facility has made Uganda the 11th country in the world to have a licensed commercial tin refinery.

“All this would be impossible without commitment to your vision of pushing for value-addition in the country,” he told the President.