Uganda sits atop one of the most geologically diverse and mineral-rich foundations on the African continent. The country's geological heritage spans over three billion years, from the ancient Archaean cratons of the north and west to the Proterozoic mobile belts that traverse the country, and the young Cenozoic rift sediments of the Albertine Graben. This geological complexity has produced an extraordinary variety of mineral deposits — from gold and base metals to industrial minerals, gemstones, and the critical minerals that are fast becoming the strategic resources of the twenty-first century.
Yet despite this geological endowment, Uganda remains one of Africa's most underexplored countries for minerals. Decades of political instability, limited geological survey coverage, and insufficient investment in exploration have meant that vast areas of prospective ground have never been systematically investigated. The Uganda government estimates that the country's mineral potential could support a mining sector worth several billion dollars annually — a figure that dwarfs the current contribution of mining to GDP.
This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the major minerals found in Uganda, covering their geological settings, known occurrences, current production status, and investment potential. Whether you are a mining investor evaluating opportunities, a geologist planning exploration programmes, a policy maker shaping the sector's future, or simply a reader curious about what lies beneath Uganda's soil, this guide will serve as a detailed reference.
For information on how to explore for these minerals, see our guide to the mineral exploration process. For those interested in acquiring exploration rights, our mineral exploration services cover the full spectrum from licence acquisition to resource estimation.
Precious Metals
Gold
Gold is Uganda's most historically significant mineral and remains the most actively explored and produced. Artisanal gold mining has taken place in Uganda for over a century, and the country's gold deposits are distributed across multiple geological belts and settings.
Key Locations:
- Busia District (Eastern Uganda): The Busia gold field, centred on the town of Tiira, hosts orogenic gold mineralisation in quartz veins within the Palaeoproterozoic Busia-Kakamega greenstone belt. This area has been the focus of both artisanal mining and modern exploration, with several companies holding exploration licences.
- Karamoja Sub-region (Northeastern Uganda): Gold occurrences are known across multiple districts including Moroto, Nakapiripirit, Amudat, and Kaabong. The mineralisation is associated with greenstone belts and shear zones within the Mozambique Belt.
- Buhweju-Mashonga (Western Uganda): Alluvial and eluvial gold deposits in the Buhweju area have supported artisanal mining for decades. The primary source is believed to be quartz vein-hosted gold in the underlying Precambrian basement.
- Mubende District (Central Uganda): Gold occurrences associated with shear zones in the Buganda-Toro System.
- Kisoro and Kabale (Southwestern Uganda): The Kigezi highlands host gold occurrences in the Karagwe-Ankolean System.
Geological Setting: Uganda's gold deposits are predominantly orogenic (lode) gold associated with Palaeoproterozoic greenstone belts, shear zones, and quartz vein systems. Alluvial and eluvial placer deposits derived from these primary sources are widespread in river valleys and weathered profiles.
Production Status: Currently dominated by artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). No large-scale industrial gold mine is in production, though several exploration projects are at advanced stages. Uganda also serves as a significant conduit for gold produced in neighbouring DRC.
Investment Potential: High. Uganda's gold potential is underexplored relative to geological neighbours such as Tanzania, Kenya, and the DRC. Modern exploration techniques — including systematic geochemical sampling, geophysical surveys, and drilling — are likely to identify deposits that artisanal miners have not been able to reach. For a deeper analysis, see our article on gold mining in Uganda.
Diamonds
Diamond occurrences have been reported in several parts of Uganda, though no economically viable primary (kimberlite) deposit has been confirmed to date.
Key Locations: Alluvial diamonds have been recovered from streams in the Mubende-Kiboga area of central Uganda and from the Karamoja region. Small kimberlite pipes have been identified in the Mubende area, but none has yet been found to contain diamonds in economic concentrations.
Investment Potential: Moderate to speculative. The presence of alluvial diamonds confirms a primary diamond source somewhere in Uganda, but finding it requires systematic regional exploration — a technically challenging and capital-intensive undertaking.
Base Metals and Polymetallic Deposits
Copper and Cobalt
Copper mineralisation is known in several parts of Uganda, with the most significant occurrences in the Kilembe area of the Rwenzori Mountains.
Key Locations:
- Kilembe (Kasese District): The Kilembe copper-cobalt mine was Uganda's flagship industrial mine from the 1950s until its closure in 1982. The deposit is a stratabound copper-cobalt sulphide occurrence hosted in Precambrian metasediments of the Kilembe Series. Estimated remaining resources include significant copper and cobalt.
- Other occurrences: Copper mineralisation has been reported in parts of Hoima, Mpigi, and Kabale districts.
Production Status: The Kilembe mine is not currently in production, though there have been multiple attempts to revive it. The cobalt content of the Kilembe ores adds significant value, particularly given the surging global demand for cobalt driven by the lithium-ion battery industry.
Investment Potential: High for Kilembe; moderate for greenfield exploration elsewhere. The known Kilembe resource, combined with high cobalt prices and growing demand from the electric vehicle sector, makes this a compelling rehabilitation target.
Tin (Cassiterite) and Wolfram (Tungsten)
Tin and wolfram mining have a long history in southwestern Uganda, dating back to the colonial era.
Key Locations:
- Ntungamo, Kabale, Kisoro, and Rukungiri Districts: Cassiterite (tin oxide) and wolframite (tungsten ore) occur in pegmatite veins and alluvial deposits associated with the Karagwe-Ankolean System. The Nyamuliro, Bjordal, and Kirwa mines were historically significant producers.
- Isingiro District: Additional tin-tungsten occurrences.
- Mubende District: Tin mineralisation associated with granitic intrusions.
Production Status: Small-scale and artisanal mining continues in several areas. No large-scale industrial mining is currently active, though the global strategic importance of tungsten and tin maintains investor interest.
Investment Potential: Moderate. The deposits are typically small and scattered, which limits the potential for large-scale mining. However, consolidated small-to-medium scale operations using modern beneficiation methods could be viable, particularly for tungsten given its classification as a critical mineral.
Iron Ore
Uganda has substantial iron ore resources, primarily in the form of haematite and magnetite deposits.
Key Locations:
- Kabale District (Southwestern Uganda): The Butare and Kamena deposits contain significant magnetite resources.
- Sukulu Hills (Tororo District): Magnetite occurs as a component of the Sukulu carbonatite complex, alongside phosphate and rare earth elements.
- Muko (Rubanda District): High-grade haematite deposits have been identified and explored.
- Buhara (Kabale): Additional haematite occurrences.
Production Status: No large-scale iron ore mining is currently in production. Several exploration projects have defined substantial resources, particularly in Kabale District.
Investment Potential: Moderate to high. The development of iron ore mining in Uganda is closely tied to the establishment of a domestic steel industry. Several iron and steel projects have been proposed, which would create local demand for iron ore and reduce Uganda's dependence on imported steel. For more detail, see our article on iron ore exploration in Uganda.
Industrial Minerals
Phosphates
Key Locations:
- Sukulu Hills (Tororo District): The Sukulu carbonatite complex hosts one of East Africa's largest phosphate deposits, with resources estimated at over 200 million tonnes of phosphate rock. The deposit also contains significant magnetite, pyrochlore (niobium), rare earth elements, and zircon.
- Busumbu (Tororo): Additional phosphate occurrences.
Production Status: Development of the Sukulu phosphate deposit has been subject to prolonged negotiation between the government and various investors. A fertiliser production facility has been proposed.
Investment Potential: High. Uganda and the broader East African region import large volumes of phosphate fertiliser. Local production from the Sukulu deposit could supply regional markets and significantly reduce agricultural input costs for East African farmers.
Limestone and Marble
Key Locations:
- Hima and Dura (Kasese District): Major limestone deposits supporting the Hima Cement plant, one of Uganda's largest industrial operations.
- Tororo District: Limestone quarrying for cement production.
- Moroto District: Marble deposits.
- Karamoja Sub-region: Additional limestone occurrences.
Production Status: Active large-scale production for the cement industry. Limestone quarrying is one of Uganda's most established mining sectors.
Investment Potential: Stable. Cement demand continues to grow with Uganda's construction and infrastructure boom, ensuring ongoing demand for limestone.
Vermiculite
Key Locations:
- Namekhara (Manafwa District, Eastern Uganda): The Namekhara vermiculite deposit is one of the most significant in East Africa, with resources reportedly exceeding 4 million tonnes.
Production Status: Mining operations have been intermittent, with various companies holding rights at different times.
Investment Potential: Moderate. Vermiculite has applications in construction (insulation), horticulture, and industrial processes. Market size is smaller than for base metals or precious metals, but the quality and size of the Namekhara deposit make it commercially attractive.
Critical and Strategic Minerals
The global energy transition is driving unprecedented demand for a group of minerals commonly referred to as "critical minerals" — elements essential for batteries, electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and advanced electronics. Uganda is endowed with several of these minerals.
Lithium
Key Locations:
- Ntungamo and Kabale Districts (Southwestern Uganda): Lithium-bearing pegmatites (spodumene and lepidolite) have been identified in the Karagwe-Ankolean belt. Exploration is at an early stage, but initial results are encouraging.
- Mubende District: Additional pegmatite occurrences with lithium potential.
Production Status: No production. Exploration is ongoing.
Investment Potential: Very high. Lithium is arguably the most sought-after mineral in the global market due to its essential role in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage. Uganda's lithium pegmatites are attracting increasing exploration interest, and a significant discovery could transform the country's mining sector.
Rare Earth Elements (REE)
Key Locations:
- Sukulu Hills (Tororo): Rare earth minerals — primarily monazite and bastnaesite — occur within the Sukulu carbonatite complex alongside phosphate and other minerals.
- Bukusu (Manafwa District): Another carbonatite complex with REE potential.
Production Status: No primary REE production. Rare earth elements could potentially be recovered as by-products of phosphate mining at Sukulu.
Investment Potential: High. Rare earth elements are critical for permanent magnets used in wind turbines and electric vehicle motors, as well as for electronics, defence systems, and other high-technology applications. Global supply is dominated by China, creating strategic interest in developing alternative sources.
Niobium (Columbium)
Key Locations:
- Sukulu Hills: Pyrochlore (the primary niobium mineral) is a significant component of the Sukulu carbonatite complex.
Production Status: No production. Niobium could be recovered alongside phosphate and REE in an integrated Sukulu mining operation.
Investment Potential: Moderate to high. Niobium is used in high-strength low-alloy steels and superalloys for aerospace applications.
Cobalt
As noted above, cobalt is present in the Kilembe copper-cobalt deposit. Cobalt is classified as a critical mineral due to its use in lithium-ion battery cathodes. Uganda's Kilembe resource positions the country as a potential producer of this strategically important metal.
Graphite
Key Locations:
- Orom (Kitgum District, Northern Uganda): Significant graphite occurrences have been identified in the form of flake graphite within the Precambrian basement rocks.
- Pader and Agago Districts: Additional graphite occurrences.
- Lira and Amolatar Districts: Graphite mineralisation reported.
Production Status: Exploration stage. Several companies have reported promising results from sampling and initial drilling.
Investment Potential: High. Graphite is essential for lithium-ion battery anodes, refractories, and advanced materials. Demand is projected to grow substantially as electric vehicle production scales up. Uganda's flake graphite occurrences could support significant mining operations if resource definition work confirms adequate tonnage and grade. For a detailed analysis, see our article on graphite mining in Uganda.
Construction Minerals and Dimension Stone
Sand and Gravel
Sand and gravel are Uganda's most widely extracted mineral resources by volume, driven by the construction industry. Extraction occurs across the country from river beds, lake shores, and weathered rock formations. While not as glamorous as gold or rare earths, sand and gravel production is a major economic activity and a significant source of employment.
Dimension Stone and Decorite
Uganda possesses high-quality granite, marble, and other dimension stone suitable for building facades, flooring, and decorative applications. Key deposits are found in Iganga, Mukono, Mubende, and parts of the Karamoja region.
Clay and Kaolin
Clay deposits suitable for brick-making, ceramics, and pottery are widespread. Kaolin deposits — used in ceramics, paper coating, and paints — are found in several locations including Mukono, Buhweju, and parts of western Uganda.
Energy Minerals
Uranium
Key Locations: Uranium mineralisation has been reported in several parts of Uganda, including occurrences in Karamoja (associated with the Mozambique Belt), the Lake Victoria goldfields area, and parts of southwestern Uganda. The Albertine Graben sediments may also host uranium.
Production Status: No mining or production. Uganda's nuclear regulatory and policy framework is still developing.
Investment Potential: Long-term speculative. Growing global interest in nuclear energy as a low-carbon power source may eventually increase demand for uranium, but development in Uganda would require significant regulatory and infrastructure development.
Peat
Key Locations: Peat deposits are found in swamp environments across Uganda, with significant accumulations in the Kabale, Kisoro, and Rukungiri areas of southwestern Uganda, and the Kyoga basin.
Production Status: Limited extraction for horticultural and energy use.
Investment Potential: Low to moderate. Peat has been considered as a fuel source for power generation, though environmental concerns about wetland degradation limit its development potential.
Regional Breakdown of Uganda's Mineral Wealth
Understanding the geographic distribution of minerals is essential for exploration planning and investment analysis.
Northern Uganda (Acholi, Lango, West Nile)
Northern Uganda, long neglected due to the LRA conflict, is emerging as a significant mineral province. Key minerals include gold, graphite, limestone, iron ore, and base metals. The region's geology includes Precambrian basement rocks of the West Nile Block and the northern extension of the Buganda-Toro System, which are prospective for a range of commodities.
Northeastern Uganda (Karamoja Sub-region)
Karamoja is one of Uganda's most geologically prospective but least explored regions. Known minerals include gold, marble, limestone, chromite, copper, and gemstones. The region's geology is dominated by rocks of the Mozambique Belt, which hosts significant mineral deposits throughout East Africa.
Eastern Uganda (Bugisu, Teso, Bukedi)
Eastern Uganda hosts the important Sukulu carbonatite complex (phosphate, REE, niobium, magnetite), Namekhara vermiculite, the Busia goldfield, and the Bukusu carbonatite. The region also produces significant volumes of limestone for the cement industry.
Central Uganda (Buganda, Bunyoro)
Central Uganda's mineral endowment includes gold, tin, tantalite, beryl, and construction minerals. The Mubende granitic complex hosts tin-tantalum mineralisation, while gold occurrences are known along several shear zones.
Western Uganda (Rwenzori, Albertine Graben)
Western Uganda is defined by the Albertine Graben rift and the Rwenzori Mountains. The Kilembe copper-cobalt deposit is the region's most significant metallic mineral resource. The rift sediments host petroleum (which is beyond the scope of this mineral guide) and potentially a range of sediment-hosted mineral deposits. Limestone for the Hima Cement plant is quarried in Kasese District.
Southwestern Uganda (Kigezi, Ankole)
Southwestern Uganda is the historical centre of tin and wolfram mining. The Karagwe-Ankolean System that dominates the region hosts tin, tungsten, gold, lithium pegmatites, and niobium-tantalum mineralisation. Iron ore deposits in Kabale and Rubanda districts add to the region's mineral portfolio.
Current State of Exploration and Development
Despite its rich endowment, Uganda's mineral sector contributes only a small fraction of GDP — far less than its geological potential would suggest. Several factors explain this gap.
Underexploration. Large areas of the country have never been covered by systematic modern exploration. The available geological mapping dates largely from the colonial and early post-independence era, and many known mineral occurrences have not been followed up with detailed investigation using modern methods.
Infrastructure gaps. Many prospective areas, particularly in northern and northeastern Uganda, lack the roads, power, and logistics infrastructure needed to support large-scale mining operations.
Regulatory evolution. Uganda's mining legislation and regulatory framework have undergone significant changes, creating periods of uncertainty for investors. However, the Mining and Minerals Act 2022 and the establishment of the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines (DGSM) represent positive steps toward a more investor-friendly environment.
Artisanal mining dominance. Much of Uganda's current mineral production comes from artisanal and small-scale miners operating with limited technology, capital, and environmental controls. Formalising and supporting this sector while attracting larger-scale investment is a key policy challenge.
The opportunity for well-capitalised exploration companies and mining investors is significant. Uganda offers genuine geological potential, a government that is actively seeking mining investment, a growing domestic market for industrial minerals and metals, and proximity to major regional markets in Kenya, Tanzania, and the DRC.
How ALOM Supports Mineral Exploration Across Uganda
ALOM Mining & Geohydro Services has worked across multiple mineral commodities and geological settings throughout Uganda and the broader East African region. Our mineral exploration services span the full exploration lifecycle — from licence acquisition advisory and desktop studies through geological mapping, geochemical sampling, geophysical surveys, and drilling. We have hands-on experience with gold, graphite, iron ore, tin, wolfram, rare earth minerals, and industrial mineral projects.
Our team's deep familiarity with Uganda's geology, regulatory environment, and operating conditions enables us to design and execute exploration programmes that are technically rigorous, logistically efficient, and compliant with international reporting standards. Whether you are evaluating a new licence area, advancing an existing project toward resource estimation, or conducting due diligence on a potential acquisition, ALOM provides the expertise and field capacity to deliver results.
Conclusion
Uganda's mineral wealth is both extensive and diverse, spanning precious metals, base metals, industrial minerals, critical minerals for the energy transition, and construction materials. The country's geological foundations — shaped by over three billion years of tectonic, volcanic, and sedimentary processes — have produced a mineral endowment that compares favourably with some of the most productive mining jurisdictions on the African continent.
What Uganda lacks is not geological potential but systematic modern exploration. The vast majority of the country's prospective ground remains underexplored by contemporary standards, and new discoveries of significant deposits are not just possible but probable as investment in exploration increases. For mining companies, investors, and the Ugandan government alike, the minerals beneath Uganda's surface represent one of the country's greatest untapped economic assets.
The coming decades are likely to see a transformation of Uganda's mining sector, driven by growing global demand for critical minerals, improving regulatory frameworks, expanding infrastructure, and increasing investor interest. Those who position themselves early — with thorough exploration, clear tenure, and strong community relationships — will be best placed to benefit from this transformation.
If you are exploring for minerals in Uganda or evaluating investment opportunities in the sector, contact ALOM Mining & Geohydro Services to discuss how our technical expertise and local knowledge can support your objectives.