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KENYA is expected to choose a developer for its potentially valuable Mrima Hill critical minerals deposit within three weeks, Reuters reported exclusively on Friday.
The East African country is believed to have large untapped deposits of lithium, graphite, copper and nickel, while Mrima Hill itself contains rare earth minerals and niobium.
Five groups are competing for the project after two Chinese companies, Hunan Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals and Jinan Yuxiao Group, withdrew from the process.
The remaining bidders include US engineering group Fluor Corp as well as other US, Australian and Kenyan-British interests.
Reuters said US engineering group Fluor Corp was among investors competing for the project, which lies about 65km from the port city of Mombasa and is believed to contain rare earth minerals and niobium.
Kenyan mining minister Hassan Ali Joho said five contenders submitted tenders on October 21, including two US consortia, a US-affiliated group, an Australian consortium and a Kenyan-British joint venture.
The US bidders include Meridian Mineral Holdings, which includes Fluor and Tetra Tech, and Frontier Minerals, which includes rare earths company ReElement Technologies. Critical Metals Corp is leading another consortium, Mrima Earth.
Australia’s RareX has teamed up with Iluka Resources, while Gem of Dreams submitted a bid as a Kenyan-British joint venture.
Reuters said two Chinese companies, Hunan Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals and Jinan Yuxiao Group, had withdrawn from the process. Joho said he did not know why they had pulled out and said Kenya had faced no pressure from either China or the US.
He said preliminary estimates suggested Mrima Hill could contain tens of billions of dollars’ worth of rare earths and niobium.
Kenya is also seeking to develop more domestic mineral processing. President William Ruto said earlier this year that Nairobi was close to signing a critical minerals agreement with the US aimed partly at expanding local processing.