The Rwandan government has granted Tinco Investments 25 year mining agreements for its tin and tungsten mines in the country, Metal Bulletin reports. The agreements covering the Rutongo tin mines and Nyakabingo tungsten operation were announced by Rwanda’s minister of state for mining, Evode Imena earlier this month.
“We’ve been developing the mines on short-term, renewable mining licences, and we’ve just completed and signed the expected 25-year mining rights,” Tinco ceo Brian Menell told Metal Bulletin. “It’s as we’ve been anticipating and working towards over the past few years – it’s the long-term extension of the short-term mining rights.”
The Rutongo operations include five underground mines north of Kigali which were privatised by the government from 2008, as well as large historical waste dumps and potentially open-pittable resources. Production in 2011-2012, shortly after Tinco took control of the mines, was some 100 tpm of 71% tin concentrates.
