Tin producers in Rwanda including Rutongo Mines Ltd., the country’s biggest miner, plan to boost exports Bloomberg reports. Rutongo expects to double shipments to 200 tonnes a month by the end of 2012 from 100 tonnes currently, Michael Biryabarema, general director of the Rwanda Geology and Mines Authority said in an interview. The company is a joint venture between Rwanda’s government and Switzerland-based Ruddington Services AG.
Meanwhile Wolfram Mining & Processing Ltd., a Kigali-based miner of tin and tungsten ore, plans to boost its shipments of both metals to as much as 65 tonnes a month before the end of this year, from 36 tonnes this month, said Jean- Malic Kalima, a director at the company. Wolfram is owned by private investors in Rwanda, Austria and Switzerland.
Rwandan exports of minerals more than doubled to $50.1 million in the five months through May, according to the Natural Resources Ministry. Volumes grew to 2,775 tons from 1,917 tons in 2009, the ministry said in a document handed to Bloomberg, although figures for tin only were not reported. Exports of tin ore in 2010 amounted to 3,874 tonnes gross weight, including material trans-shipped from neighbouring countries, notably the Democratic Republic of Congo.
About 92% of Rwanda’s mines have installed traceability systems as of April 1 in accordance with the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act that is intended to curb the trade of minerals that fund conflict, Natural Resources Minister Stanislas Kamanzi told Bloomberg in a separate interview. The industry employs 35,000 people in the country, he said.