East African Mining News Unearthing Mining Opportunities in East Africa
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Kenya is expected to choose a developer for its potentially valuable Mrima Hill critical minerals deposit within three weeks, Reuters reported exclusively on 30 October 2026. The East African country is believed to hold large untapped deposits of lithium, graphite, copper and nickel, while Mrima Hill itself contains rare earth minerals and niobium. The site lies about 65km from the port city of Mombasa.
Five groups are competing for the project after two Chinese companies, Hunan Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals and Jinan Yuxiao Group, withdrew from the process. Mining Minister Hassan Ali Joho said five contenders submitted tenders on 21 October 2026, including two US consortia, a US affiliated group, an Australian consortium and a Kenyan British joint venture. Reuters said US engineering group Fluor Corp is among the investors competing.
The US bidders include Meridian Mineral Holdings, which brings together Fluor and Tetra Tech, and Frontier Minerals, which includes rare earths company ReElement Technologies. Critical Metals Corp is leading another consortium, Mrima Earth. Australia’s RareX has teamed up with Iluka Resources, while Gem of Dreams submitted a bid as the Kenyan British joint venture.
Joho said he did not know why the two Chinese companies pulled out and that Kenya had faced no pressure from either China or the US. He said preliminary estimates suggest Mrima Hill could contain tens of billions of dollars’ worth of rare earths and niobium. Kenya is also seeking to develop more domestic mineral processing. President William Ruto said earlier this year that Nairobi was close to signing a critical minerals agreement with the US aimed partly at expanding local processing.
