GAMICO Ltd has stepped up funding in fashionable mining expertise, unveiling a mineral processing plant, underground rail transport system, mine clinic and mining academy because it seeks to spice up manufacturing, enhance employee welfare and strengthen abilities.
The amenities had been unveiled on August 14 at Bashyamba Mine in Nyarugenge District, Kigali, because the mining firm marked 5 years of operations, with a lot of the investments launched this 12 months, in response to its administration.
The anniversary programme included a tour of the underground mine and the inauguration of the Rubirizi Tunnel, a shaft, decline, processing plant and a mine laboratory. The newly opened clinic, which features a laboratory, session and statement rooms, a nursing unit and a minor surgical procedure room, is predicted to serve greater than 1,500 staff.
Manufacturing rises with mechanisation
GAMICO Normal Supervisor Evode Imena stated a key milestone is the institution of a processing plant with an preliminary capability of 15 tonnes of ore per hour.
“The plant's capability will enhance to 25 tonnes per hour,” he stated, referring to its enlargement plans.
Imena stated mechanisation had considerably elevated manufacturing, changing guide strategies with fashionable gear.
“After we began, we mined solely about 60 tonnes a 12 months utilizing chisels, hammers, picks and different artisanal instruments. Immediately, manufacturing has elevated to about 350 tonnes yearly by means of fashionable equipment, together with gear that transports minerals from underground,” he stated.
The corporate at the moment produces about one tonne of tin (cassiterite) per day, or round 30 tonnes a month.
At Bashyamba mine, GAMICO started exploration in 2021 and obtained its mining licence in 2023 after reviving a former Belgian-era mining web site that had been deserted and affected by unlawful mining.
“We inherited outdated shafts and progressively constructed tunnels. Beforehand, minerals had been transported utilizing wheelbarrows, however we’ve now constructed a railway-like system the place wagons are pulled by electrical locomotives. This 12 months, we additionally launched drill and blast expertise,” Imena stated.
“Our objective is to double manufacturing as we proceed investing in fashionable gear.”
Extending the mine's lifespan
Imena stated GAMICO is setting up a decline tunnel to entry deeper mineral deposits and prolong the mine's lifespan.
“The location incorporates an estimated 3.5 million tonnes of mineral reserves, sufficient for about 35 years of mining at depths of 80 metres. By extending the decline to 400 metres, we goal to function the mine for as much as 100 years,” he stated.
Venant Murenzi, who beforehand labored at Bashyamba throughout its artisanal mining period, stated mechanisation had remodeled working situations and mineral restoration.
“New expertise has eradicated a lot of the exhausting guide work and elevated mineral restoration as a result of invaluable minerals are now not misplaced by means of conventional sluicing,” he stated.
Coaching employees for contemporary mining
The GAMICO Mining Academy has educated greater than 200 folks, with graduates receiving certificates in the course of the anniversary occasion.
William Dieudonné Uwiringiyimana, one of many graduates, stated the three-month programme improved his technical abilities.
“I used to be educated in processing plant operations, and the information will assist me carry out my job extra successfully,” he stated.
GAMICO employs about 1,500 folks, together with 80 per cent youth and 15 per cent ladies.
Jeanine Igiraneza, a locomotive operator, stated the academy helped her advance professionally.
“I began as a mining assistant. After three months of coaching, I used to be promoted to locomotive operator, and my wage additionally elevated,” she stated.
Prof. Digne E. Rwabuhungu, Dean of the College of Mining and Geology, counseled GAMICO for investing in sensible coaching.
“Universities present theoretical information, however many sensible mining abilities are acquired on web site. As Rwanda shifts from artisanal to mechanised mining, we’d like domestically educated specialists as a result of importing specialists is pricey,” he stated.
Neighborhood and environmental commitments
GAMICO stated it helps surrounding communities by means of initiatives together with water amenities, livestock donations to weak households, youth and sports activities programmes, infrastructure assist and help to employees searching for to formalise marriages.
The corporate additionally stated it’s implementing measures to guard water sources, handle waste, preserve biodiversity and scale back emissions related to its operations.
Kigali, RMB laud GAMICO’s shift to fashionable mining
The Metropolis of Kigali counseled GAMICO for demonstrating how mining can change into safer, extra productive and environmentally accountable.
“GAMICO is demonstrating how the mining sector can progressively transfer from conventional, labour-intensive strategies to fashionable, skilled and safer mining operations,” stated Emma-Claudine Ntirenganya, the Metropolis of Kigali spokesperson.
She stated accountable city improvement ought to be sure that financial actions create jobs whereas defending the surroundings and benefiting surrounding communities.
“Accountable city improvement will not be solely roads, buildings and infrastructure. Additionally it is about guaranteeing that financial actions happening inside the metropolis are productive, secure, environmentally accountable and helpful to our communities,” she stated.
Ntirenganya additionally highlighted the mining academy's function in growing native experience.
“It is a highly effective reminder that the way forward for mining will not be solely underground; it is usually in information, in expertise, in innovation and within the abilities of our folks,” she stated.
The Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Fuel Board (RMB) additionally counseled GAMICO for modernising one among Rwanda's oldest mining websites.
“5 years could appear brief, however the progress and achievements registered by GAMICO are really commendable,” stated Catherine Kantengwa, Division Supervisor for Mining Cadastre and Digital Data at RMB.
She stated GAMICO's investments in mechanisation, abilities improvement and expertise align with Rwanda's efforts to extend productiveness, enhance security and add worth to the mining sector.
“RMB stays dedicated to offering all attainable assist inside its mandate and capability to allow GAMICO to proceed advancing its mission and attaining its imaginative and prescient,” she stated.
Bashyamba Mine has operated for the reason that Nineteen Thirties, and GAMICO's newest investments mark a shift in the direction of extra mechanised, expert and structured mining operations.
