Mining and Quarrying in Rwanda
Senior 2 · Geography and Environment
Mining and Quarrying in Rwanda
Lesson 3 of 3
22 min
In October 2012 Rwanda's Ministry of Natural Resources suspended mining across the Western Province because it was endangering the Sebeya River. Thousands of miners lost work for a time. The decision shows the central question of this lesson: how can a country earn from its minerals without destroying its land and water?
| Method | How it works | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Open-cast (open-pit) | Soil and rock are stripped away and the ore dug from a widening pit | Shallow cassiterite and coltan deposits |
| Underground (adit or shaft) | Tunnels are driven into a hillside (adit) or down a vertical shaft to follow a vein of ore | Deeper veins of wolframite and cassiterite |
| Alluvial mining and panning | River gravel is dug and swirled with water in a pan; the heavy mineral settles and light sand washes away | Gold and cassiterite in stream beds |
| Gas extraction | Deep, gas-rich lake water is pumped up; as the pressure falls, the gas bubbles out and is cleaned | Methane from Lake Kivu |
| Peat cutting | Marshes are drained and the peat dug out and dried | Akanyaru and Gishoma marshes |
After extraction, ore is crushed, washed and concentrated. Some tin concentrate is smelted in Rwanda at the Karuruma smelter in Kigali, which could produce up to 1,800 tonnes of tin a year by 2019; most concentrate is exported for processing.
Exploration for new deposits; value addition (smelting and refining at home rather than exporting raw ore); mechanisation and safety training; tracing minerals from mine to buyer; rehabilitating old sites by refilling pits and planting trees; and more power from Lake Kivu methane.
Was it right to suspend mining in the Western Province to protect the Sebeya River?
Tip
Exam technique. For "effects of mining", sort your points under positive (exports, jobs, raw materials, energy) and negative (land, water, safety, economic). For "evaluate", always end with a judgement that balances the two.
Solution: open-cast mining removes the surface layers and digs a pit; underground mining follows the ore through tunnels or shafts.
Solution: gas-rich deep water is pumped up; as pressure falls the gas bubbles out, is cleaned and piped to power plants.
Solution: 1,800 ÷ 12 = 150 tonnes a month.
Solution: soil erosion and land degradation; siltation and pollution of rivers (also loss of vegetation, dangerous open pits).
Solution: refined metal sells for far more than raw ore, so smelting at home earns more and creates skilled jobs.
Summary
Sources and credits
The factor and method lists, the worked example and the practice items are written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
