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Uganda Prepares to Invite Bids to Restart Idled Copper Mines

Uganda Prepares to Invite Bids to Restart Idled Copper Mines

(Bloomberg) -- Uganda said it’s preparing to invite bids to restart the idled Kilembe copper mines, after a deal with a Chinese-led group collapsed more than two years ago.

Proposals will involve the government taking a stake under a production sharing agreement, the Kampala-based Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development said in a report. The ministry will shortlist and evaluate interested companies.

In April, the Uganda government said 28 companies had expressed interest in revamping the mines, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Output peaked in 1970, before the operation was put under care and maintenance in 1982.

The search for a new investor follows the collapse of an agreement with a group led by China’s Tibet Hima Mining Co., which had pledged to invest $175 million after winning the concession in 2013.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Dylan Griffiths, Lynn Thomasson

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