Kenya has discovered large deposits if coltan, the mineral that is used to manufacture phones. This has been announced by Mining and Blue Economy Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya.
“It is now official. We have coltan deposits in the country and we want to see how we can inspire investors,” said Mvurya.
According to Mvurya, the deposits have been found in five counties. These counties include Embu, Samburu, Turkana, West Pokot and Tana River.
Mvurya said that 970 mineral occurrences had been noted across the country. He added that laboratories would be decentralised to counties to fast-track testing of minerals.
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“We shall be setting up laboratories in eight regions for testing samples and declaring the quality of minerals found in a particular area,” the CS said.
Coltan which is known industrially as tantalite is described as a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted.
“The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite, and the tantalum-dominant mineral is tantalite,” states Wikipedia.
“Tantalum from coltan is used to manufacture tantalum capacitors which are used for mobile phones, personal computers, automotive electronics, and cameras. Coltan mining is widespread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
