Billionaire industrialist Narendra Raval has applied for a licence to prospect for iron ore in Taita Taveta County as he moves to become the first producer of primary steel in the region.
Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho on Wednesday published a gazette notice inviting objections to the grant of a prospecting licence to Mr Raval’s Devki Steel Mills.
Iron ore is used in the production of virgin steel, which is different from secondary steel that is predominantly produced in Kenya by melting scrap metal in an electric arc furnace.
Any person opposed to the licence has 20 days to submit their grievances, said Mr Joho. The proposed prospecting area covers 30.789 square kilometres in Taita Taveta, where Devki commissioned a Sh11 billion steel plant last year.
“Pursuant to section 34 of the Mining Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs notifies receipt of an application for a prospecting licence from Devki Steel Mills,” reads the gazette notice.
“Any objection by any person or community against the grant of the prospecting licence may be submitted to the Cabinet Secretary within 20 days from the date of this notice.”
Mining of iron ore in Taita Taveta by Devki Steel has been delayed by leadership wrangles in the Kishushe area over the acquisition of mining rights, or cadastral blocks, by Devki Steel Mills.
Last year, Raval unveiled a Sh11 billion iron processing plant in Manga, Voi.
The Devki Iron Pelletisation Plant sits on a 2,024-hectare piece of land, close to the iron-rich Kishushe. The plant is expected to create about 3,000 jobs after the first phase is completed and more than 14,000 when fully complete.
Most of the iron ore deposits in Taita Taveta are magnetite, which requires significant amounts of electricity to process. The ore must first be pelletised —concentrated and rolled into small pellets— before it can be smelted into iron and later refined into steel.
Mr Raval, who is also in the cement industry, is one of the leading steel producers in Kenya.
He is now eyeing the virgin production of steel, having inked an exclusive deal in Uganda to export iron ore worth Sh15 billion every year after President William Ruto brokered a deal with his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni.
Iron ore is also a raw material for cement production, another product under Mr Raval’s National Cement group.
Before closing the Uganda deal, Kampala changed the law to accommodate Mr Raval and end a five-year freeze on exports of raw and semi-processed iron ore.
Besides Devki Steel Mills, other players in the sub-sector include Tononoka Group, Tarmal Steel, Bachu Industries, Insteel, Apex Steel, Steel Structures Limited, Jumbo Steel Mills, Eldoret Steel Mills, and Abyssinia Iron and Steel Limited.
