Mining & Trade News

It was in the morning of a Monday when I drove my daughter Victoria to Kasiya to write a Form 1 entrance examination for Atsikana Paulendo Private Secondary School. The examination was for three hours so after dropping her, I drove to the nearby Kasiya Trading Centre to spend the idle hours while waiting for her to finish writing her exam. I looked around for a place where I could sit down and enjoy my favourite coke. Lucky enough, I found one of the drinking joints open as the bar tender was just coming from where he had ordered some drinks. “You are welcome Sir, what are you having for a drink,” the bar tender welcomed me. I ordered the coke which was handed to me with an empty crate of beer to sit on.

As I took the first sip of my drink, a woman in her twenties approached the scene from the direction of the market. She looked very innocent and attractive to the eye. She was carrying a basket of groundnuts and was clad in a white T-shirt scribbled “chuma chili munthaka” on the chest and a Malawi Congress Party cloth (chitenje) decorated with the face of party leader Dr Lazarus Chakwera. She came straight to plead with me to buy her cooked groundnuts; Bwana ndiguleniko mtedza ophika ndipezeko yogulira ndiwo, dzulo sindinadye” meaning boss, buy from me cooked groundnuts. At least, I should have money to buy relish, I did not afford to have a meal yesterday.”

Her complaint touched my heart and I told her to give me K2,000 worth of the groundnuts. Her ordeal about skipping meals due to lack of money for relish prompted me to ask the lady about her life story. She told me her name is Tadala, a mother to two children who are in primary school. She is divorced having ran away from the father of her children because he used to beat up her up when he found that there was no food at home after returning drunk

“He used to be okay when he was jobless and we were depending on small- holder farming for survival. He just changed after finding a job as a labourer at the Ksiya mine. I could not survive his cruelty,” she explained.

She then asked me what I do for a living. I told her I write stories on mining and then I went into my car to get a copy of Mining & Trade Review to show her. I in- vited the bar tender to join me in eating the groundnuts and ordered a fanta for Tadala as a symbol of appreciating company while I enjoyed the nuts.

Kasiya Rutile Project is not yet in production

Tadala asked to go through the newspaper and I was startled when she seemed to scream after fluffing through the copy: “Eesh these mining companies are stealing our minerals here in Malawi and exporting in the name of samples for laboratory tests.

“Sovereign Metals came to Kasiya several years ago to start mining but Malawi and us citzens here are benefitting nothing.”

I explained to her that no exploration company is stealing minerals in Malawi in the name of samples. All samples exported for tests by these companies are inspected by security authorities at the country’s exit points and assessed to determine amount of royalty to be paid to government

On the part of Sovereign Metals, they do have a laboratory in Area 4, Lilongwe where they test samples from Kasiya. This process is mainly conducted by Malawians including women like her employed by the company

No sooner had I started responding to her than a group of four young men stormed the place. “Aunt Tadala, can I read the mining newspaper, I read on Facebook that the Americans have signed a deal with Sovereign Metals to steal our minerals. We, Malawians, are sleeping here. This is why the country is still poor despite having mineral resources.”

His statements prompted me to respond to both Tadala and the group of young men. I told them that Sovereign Metals is only in feasibility study stage for Kasiya. The Company made the initial discovery of the deposit in 2019, and it needs 10 years or more to conduct exploration, feasibility studies, environmental and social impact assessment studies, identify markets for the minerals, mobilise financing and sign a mining development agreement with the Malawi Government.”

Americans are not stealing minerals from Kasiya

But Rasta, do you remember what we read on Facebook; America has signed a deal with Sovereign Metals to buy the minerals with us Malawians getting nothing!” One of the young men said articulating to a colleague in dreadlocks.

This prompted me to order drinks for the young men so that I have ample time to explain to them the truth. Three of them ordered a Sapitwa while one preferred a Castel lager beer. I told them that the nonbinding offtake agreement that Sovereign Metals signed with an American Company Traxys for the latter to import graphite from Kasiya is a normal deal just like the other non-binding agreement that Sovereign has signed with a Japanese firm, Mitsui, to import rutile from the planned mine.

Resource firms sign these deals in advance to convince financiers to lend them money to develop their projects hence there is nothing like exploitation by the Americans in the deal.

“Why was the Malawi Government not present during the signing of the deals? This is a government of cowards who are scared of Trump (the US President) who want to get our minerals for a song. I read that an American Minister was present at the signing ceremony of this deal.” This was Rasta then talking.

I told them that Malawi Government officials do not have to be present at the signing of any deals signed by private companies. The role of government is mainly to ensure that the mining companies abide by the laws governing the mineral sector which spell out benefits for the country from the mineral resources. Sovereign will sign a Mining Development Agreement with the Malawi Government which will be based on the country’s laws.

A representative of the US Government was present at the signing ceremony of the deal with Troxys because the US Government is bankrolling Troxys and other companies to buy for it critical minerals such as graphite through its multibillion dollar Project Vault. In this regard, the US was present as a financier of Troxys.

With Malawi’s minerals sector increasingly attracting investors, many resource firms will be signing offtake agreements so it would be a drain of resources for our government officials to be following the private companies to where they will be signing these deals.

I also told them that the presence of Sovereign Services is the strong presence of Malawi in the deal because Sovereign Services is registered under Malawi Laws and operating under this country’s laws with Malawians running the company here in Lilongwe including a local Country Director.

“Okay, so what will happen when the mine opens in Kasiya in 2030 or thereafter. Will Malawi become rich and we, the locals here, become super rich? I am told there is big money in mining,” That was Tadala coming in now.

I responded to her that one or a few large scale mines cannot make all Malawians millionaires and billionaires overnight. Kasiya as the largest rutile deposit and the second largest flake graphite deposit in the world will indeed substantially contribute to the economy of Malawi in terms of raking in some forex, employment and business opportunities to locals etc but that will be far from transforming the economy

Malawi will need to invest in all productive sectors including mining, tourism, agriculture and manufacturing with its citizens committed to transform their lives economically.

But as I drove to pick Victoria after finishing writing her exam at Atsikana Paulendo, the young men I met just loitering around without nothing to do at the trading centre and poor Tadala stuck in my mind. I felt my next assignment would be to write an article urging authorities to consider these young men and women likeTadala in their programmes. It looks a possibility as Sovereign already onstucted a community centre in Malingunde.

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