Mining in Rwanda
Senior 4 · Geography
Mining in Rwanda
Lesson 2 of 4
25 min
In 2024–25 the value of investment registered by RDB in mining and quarrying jumped from US$53 million to US$338 million, and imports of mining machinery rose (MINICOM, 2025). Rwanda's mines are changing from pick-and-shovel workings to mechanised operations. Figure 3 shows the methods they use.
Figure 3. Mining methods. Drawn by Ganzaa.
Which method suits a mineral vein deep inside a hill? Which suits tin grains washed into a valley? The answer depends on where the ore lies, how rich it is and how much money the miner has.
Definition
Artisanal mining: mining by individuals or small groups with hand tools and little capital. Small-, medium- and large-scale mining: licensed operations distinguished by area, output and investment; RMB's 2025 offer classed blocks of 50–450 ha as medium-scale and of 875–4,025 ha as large-scale.
Surface mining removes the overburden (soil and rock above the ore) and digs from the surface: open pits, quarries and alluvial workings. Underground mining reaches ore through an adit (a near-horizontal tunnel driven into a hillside) or a shaft (a vertical pit). Beneficiation: crushing, washing and separating ore to make a concentrate.
| Method | How it works | Suits | Advantages and disadvantages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open pit (open-cast) | Overburden stripped; ore dug from a widening pit | Shallow, weathered pegmatites with cassiterite and coltan | Cheap and safe to start; scars the land, needs much rehabilitation |
| Adit and shaft (underground) | Tunnels follow the vein; ore carried out in carts | Deeper quartz veins of wolframite and cassiterite | Reaches rich veins with little surface damage; costly, risk of collapse |
| Alluvial (placer) working and panning | River and valley gravels dug and washed; heavy grains settle | Tin-rich placers such as Bugarura–Mamfu (RMB, 2025); gold | Very cheap; muddies rivers and damages valley farmland |
| Quarrying | Rock, sand, gravel and clay cut from open faces or pits | Construction materials in every district | Supplies building; dust, noise, open pits |
| Extraction of gas | Gas-rich deep water pumped up so methane separates | Lake Kivu (Unit 15) | Energy at home; risks to the lake's layers |
After extraction the ore is beneficiated: pre-ground, washed in pans and drums, dried and bagged as concentrate, and tagged so its origin can be traced. Some is smelted or refined in Rwanda (lesson 3).
| Factor | Rwandan evidence |
|---|---|
| Geology | Pegmatites and veins around granites hold the 3Ts, lithium and beryllium (RMB, 2025) |
| Institutions and policy | RMB created in 2017; mining safety standards (2017), EIA guidelines (2012) and environmental audit guidelines (2014) (REMA, 2021); ten blocks with geological data offered to investors in May 2025 (RMB, 2025) |
| Investment and capital | Registered investment in mining and quarrying: US$53 million in 2023–24, US$338 million in 2024–25 (MINICOM, 2025) |
| Mechanisation | More imports of mining machinery in 2024–25 (MINICOM, 2025) |
| Labour | 85,498 people worked mainly in mining and quarrying in 2025, up 11.2% on 2024 (NISR, 2026) |
| Value addition at home | A tin smelter and a gold refinery (REMA, 2021) |
| World demand | Tin, tantalum and tungsten are needed for electronics; gold keeps a high price |
| Demand at home | Construction grew 11% in 2025 and needs sand, stone, cement and steel (NISR, 2026) |
Worked example 1: the investment jump
Data (MINICOM, 2025, from RDB). Registered investment in mining and quarrying: US$53 million (2023–24) and US$338 million (2024–25).
Interpretation. Investment rose more than sixfold in one year. Registered investment is a promise, not money already spent, but it shows confidence in Rwanda's geology and rules, and it pays for machines, exploration and processing that artisanal miners cannot afford.
Worked example 2: how productive is a mining worker?
Data. Mineral exports in 2024: US$1,754,980,879, of which the 3Ts US$231,348,064 (NISR, 2025). Workers mainly in mining and quarrying in 2024: 76,866 (NISR, 2026).
Interpretation. Both figures are rough: the workers include quarrymen who produce for the home market, and the gold value includes refining. Still, about US$3,000 of 3T exports per worker shows how labour-intensive, low-output hand mining is. Mechanisation and processing raise output per worker, which is why they are central to the sector's plans.
Warning
Do not confuse an adit with a shaft. An adit enters the side of a hill almost horizontally, which suits Rwanda's steep hills; a shaft goes straight down. Also, "artisanal" describes the scale and tools, not whether the mining is legal: licensed artisanal miners are legal, unlicensed ones are not.
Mining Review Africa, "Investing in mining mechanization: the LuNa Smelter". Watch for how machines change mining and processing in Rwanda, and link what you see to the factors in the table above.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Sources: Annual Report 2024–2025, MINICOM, 2025 (investment, machinery imports); Rwanda Mining Investment Pitchbook, RMB, May 2025 (block sizes and classes, placers, geology); Rwanda State of Environment and Outlook Report 2021, REMA (RMB, standards and guidelines, smelter and refinery); Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, NISR, 2026 (employment); GDP National Accounts 2025, NISR, 2026 (construction growth); Rwanda Statistical Yearbook 2025, NISR (export values).
Figure 3, the tables and the worked examples were drawn and written by Ganzaa.
Photos: A full trolly coming from one of the galleries and Washing the tungsten, Fairphone, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Video: "Investing in mining mechanization: The Luna Smelter", Mining Review Africa, embedded from YouTube. The rest of the lesson and the exercises were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
A rich wolframite vein runs deep inside a steep hill. Which method best reaches it?
