Government of Kenya has struck an agreement with Soy-Fujax Mining Company.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary of Mining has signed an agreement with UK-based Soy-Fujax Mining to restart the fluorspar operations based at Kimwarer in Elgeyo Marakwet County. The deposit is located in the Kerio Valley, which is approximately 300km by road north-west of Nairobi. The agreement is for an investment of  Sh4.8Bn (US$33M) into the operation and local community. The government will retain a 15% stake in the company, which it took over in 2018. 

The operations, which closed back in 2016, were formerly run by Kenya Fluorspar Company, but in 2018 the mine and various assets were taken back into state ownership. There have been several initiatives made by the government to maintain the assets and look for a potential restart. However, as well as finding a suitable investment partner, issues of land compensation and ownership have to be resolved which have been on-going since the closure. Leaders have assured the residents that their concerns will be amicably addressed.  

There is no domestic requirement for fluorspar in Kenya and historically all the material has been exported, with production averaging 84ktpy between 2011 and 2015. The main importers were India, Germany and Italy.