Cybercrime

CUTS INVESTMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECT(IFD):
STUDY ON
INVESTMENT REGIMES IN SELECTED DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES

INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ISSUES:
THE CASE OF KENYA’S KWALE MINERAL SANDS PROJECT

Prepared
for the
IFD Project Launch Meeting to be held on
13th. – 14th. December, 2001
Trident Hotel, Jaipur, India

Prepared
By
David O. Ong’olo
Research Advisor
CUTS-ARC, Lusaka, Zambia

December, 2001

INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: THE
CASE OF KENYA’S KWALE MINERAL SANDS PROJECT1
1.

BACKGROUND TO THE KWALE MINERAL SANDS PROJECT

1.1.
The mineral deposits
Geological definition of an area containing mineralization is called a resource. When there has been
enough work done to assess the mining & extraction process, the mineralization that can be
economically mined is termed an ore reserve. In the Kwale project, the total resource tonnage is
around 200 million tonnes of mineralised sands while the ore reserves are closer to 140 million
tonnes. An ore grade of 5-6% is the content of economic minerals found in the sands. The
economically recoverable minerals from the Kenyan mineral sand deposits are:
•
•
•

Ilmenite which is a mineral which contains 49/51% TiO2 (the balance is iron oxides);
Rutile which contains around 95/96% TiO2; and
Zircon which is a zirconia silicate.

Ilmenite is the dominant mineral present which currently sells for around US$ 65/tonne while rutile
normally sells around US$ 450/tonne. To make titanium metal, one starts with a rutile concentrate
which is processed in a highly specialized toxic and energy consuming refining process. Minerals
similar to those found at Kwale have been sold to producers of pure white titanium pigment which is
used in paints and as filler in plastics, paper, toothpaste, many medicinal tablets and in sunscreens.
Nearly 95% of all such minerals are the feedstock to the pigment industry but a small percentage of
all titanium produced (~3%) is used to produce titanium metal of which the cost to...