1,100 rendered jobless as Base Titanium exports last bulk shipment

Australian miner, Base Titanium, exported its last bulk shipment of titanium ore from Kenya, marking the end of the firms mining activities in Kwale County.

Emotions ran high as employees and residents of Likoni watched ship, MV Devbulk Sinem sail away with 4,200 metric tonnes of rutile destined for the United States.

The US has been one of the major markets for Base Titanium that has boasted of being the largest single miner in the country since 2014.

The shipment marked the end of an era as the large titanium store was left empty and leaving 1,100 employees jobless.

.

Keep Reading business

•  BAT to pay Sh50 dividend despite 19pc profit dip
•  Appetite for Kenya's 'green gold' spawns new crop of millionaires Premium
•  Policy Statement promises nothing unusual in CS Mbadi's first Budget Premium
•  UNGA President Yang backs Equity's plan to boost youth innovation
•  Why you may not escape paying toll fees on major roads and highways Premium

The titanium mining operations also supported an estimated additional 2,800 jobs in the Kwale region and wider Kenyan economy. The ship hooted as it set sail at about 12.30 pm amid sendoff music from Sengenya dancers brought from Kwale County.

Base Titanium General manager of operations Mr Denham Vickers described the event to mark the last bulk shipment of titanium ore as a moment for workers, as there was nothing to mine.

“It is a sad day and moment because our work has come to an end,” he said, capturing the mood of the workers who saw off the last shipment.

He noted that they stopped processing titanium ore on December 31, 2024, finished other preparations on January 4, 2025 and finally exported the remaining bulk titanium ore on February 12, 2025.

He, however, said they will retain the Likoni port facility and other assets and that they were having several protesting licenses for Msambweni in Kwale and Lamu County even as they exit.

Base Titanium exported rutile, ilmenite, and zircon to several markets that included the US, China, South Korea, and Europe. 80 percent of the shipment comprised bulk ore.

M. Vickers noted that a total of 5.2 million metric tonnes of titanium ore were exported since February 12, 2014, through its port facility that falls under the port of Mombasa.

This included 3,892,000 metric tonnes of ilmenite, 804,000 metric tonnes of rutile, and 295,000 metric tonnes of zircon.

The miner has spent about Sh1 billion on staff layoffs and more resources on restoration of the mines reforestation.

The Likoni port facility manager, Ms. Elizabeth Kyalo, said they had handled a total of 171 ships that carried away bulk titanium ore since February 12, 2014.

“We are emotionally touched to see the last of the 171 bulk ships sail away from titanium after 11 years of operations,” she said.

Titanium mining has been recognised as a flagship project under the Vision 2030 national development blueprint.

Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho recently expressed satisfaction at the level of environmental restoration of the former mining sites.

Joho said planning for mine site closure, decommissioning, and rehabilitation is a critical component of environmental management in the mining sector.

“I am actually impressed about the level of land reclamation that was intensively done here by Base Titanium,” he had said.

He said without large-scale foreign investment like Base Titanium, the mining industry in Kenya would be slow to take off.

Joho said the greatest challenge facing the mining industry in the country is how best to exploit the precious mineral resources without destroying the fragile environment.

The Kwale operations generated earnings of US$279.1 million (Sh36) in the 2022 financial year and accounted for 65 percent of Kenya’s total mineral output value. Base Titanium is the largest exporter in tonnage through the Port of Mombasa.

In the 2023 financial year, Base Titanium paid over US$54.35 million (about Sh7 billion) in direct tax, royalties, Value Added Tax (VAT), and other statutory payments.

Total payments to the government and other national entities since the Kwale Operation commenced total over US$306.699 million (about Sh39.5 billion).