Kwale-based Base Titanium made its last bulk shipment from Mombasa to the United States on Wednesday, marking the end of 11 years of titanium ore export from the site.
Mv Devbulk Sinem became the 171st vessel to make a call at the Base Titanium import facility in Likoni since February 2014 when the first consignment was exported and the last to pick the final titanium ore from the company.
Base Titanium operations manager Devham Vickers said the company concluded its mining processes in December 2024 after minerals were depleted in Kwale mining sites.
“Today marks the 171st vessel calling at our port facility and the last to pick bulk 4,200 tonnes of rutile; one of the titanium mineral constituents,” he said.
Mr Vickers said in the 11 years, the company had exported a total of 5,208,000 tonnes of titanium which included 3,892,000 tonnes ilmenite, 804,000 tonnes rutile, and 295,000 tonnes zircon while the rest are other minerals obtained from titanium ore.
He said all the minerals were exported from Kwale mines using a total of about 186,000 truckloads, saying there would be job losses once the company closes completely.
In the meantime, the manager said the company is yet to relinquish its properties including the loading jet at the Likoni channel until they are certain they will not continue with any mining exercise in the country in the future.
“We have five prospecting licences one for Ramisi in Kwale, two for Lamu, and two outstanding licenses but we are not sure if the areas will turn out to be a viable operation. In our experience in the mining sector, we know in every 1,000 greenfields, only one turns out to be viable,” said Mr Vickers.
He added, “Kenya Base Titanium has been acquired by American mineral resources firm–Energy Fuels, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $240 million (Sh31.02 billion) so we shall only do any other mining in any viable operations in the future under our new organisation”
Energy Fuels is a US-based uranium and critical minerals producer and the deal is said to be strategic in creating “a global critical minerals business.”
Base Titanium has been Kenya’s biggest mineral exporter since its entry into the country and the company’s exploration and future investment decisions will however be determined by the government’s actions on the issuance of licenses.
While the moratorium on the issuance of prospecting and mining licenses in the country was lifted in October last year, ending a four-year ban, no major licensing activities have taken place as royalty sharing remains a headache despite a formula being in place.
The Mining Ministry is currently running compliance checks on all licenses and permits for anybody handling minerals to determine compliance with the Mining Act 2016.
Base accounts for 65 percent of Kenya's mineral exports. In the 2023 financial year, it paid about Sh2 billion in mineral royalties to the government.
In the year ending June 2022, Base paid Treasury $30.07 million (about Sh3.88 billion) in royalties, and $26.8 million (Sh3.46 billion) in corporate and withholding taxes.
Mining at Kwale operations ended in December last year when ore reserves were fully depleted.
The firm’s investment in Kenya however began in 2010 with a capital expenditure on its project to date being more than $380 million (Sh49.12 billion at the current exchange rate).
