After a two-year review of the company’s environmental impact study, the government of Kenya has granted an environmental licence brining Tiomin Resources (TIO-T) a step closer to developing the Kwale titanium-sands project southwest of Mombasa, Kenya.
The government has also given the go-ahead for a proposed ship-loading facility at Shimoni.
Before construction can begin Tiomin must file an environmental management plan and must negotiate a mining lease and other related permits. The company is also responsible for resettling residents of two towns on the permit area.
Kwale plays host to a resource of 200 million tonnes of mineral sands grading 2% ilmenite, 0.5% rutile and 0.3% zircon. Tiomin’s plan calls for an open-pit mining operation to produce 300,000 tonnes ilmenite, 38,000 tonnes zircon and 75,000 tonnes rutile annually for six years. The total mine life is about 13 years.
Long term, Tiomin intends to subsequently develop two other large titanium-bearing mineral sands deposits in Kenya – Kilifi and Mambrui. Extensive mineralization has also been identified on the Vipingo exploration license.
Kwale has long been the target of intense protest by environmental groups who criticized the company’s environmental impact study and commissioned one of their own that said the project could destroy surface and groundwater flow patterns and possibly contaminated a major aquifer.
Earlier this spring, a lawsuit, launched by three local landowners, in Kenya against the company’s local subsidiary was dismissed. The suit sought to prevent development of the project.
Tiomin’s president Jean-Charles Potvin said, ” we are extremely pleased that we have received this approval and believe it is further indication of solid support from the local community for the development of the Kwale titanium mine in Kenya.”
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