A shaft at abandoned mining site
Rwanda Mining and Petroleum Board (RMB) said the country has a burden of too many pits at former mining sites and quarries.
The excavations pose a threat to both human life and the environmental ecosystem.
RMB told parliamentarians on 15th January 2025 that their survey identified nearly 1000 pits and quarries at abandoned sites around the country, some dating from the colonial era.
Pits at former mining sites make up 44 percent, while quarries make up over 56 percent, which all need Rwf26 billion for backfilling.
Francis Kamanzi, the CEO of RMB, and Environmental Minister Valentine Uwamariya appeared before the parliamentary Committee on Governance, Equality, and Gender Equality on the Ombudsman’s 2024 report, which implicated both institutions in ineffective environmental management.
“Our survey has established that most of these sites date back to the colonial era while others belonged to mining companies that no longer operate in the country,” Kamanzi said.
Kamanzi explained that while some are easy pits that communities can backfill, others come from complex shafts that need machinery.
RMB and local authorities are monitoring the former mining sites to prevent people from attempting to seek minerals from them.
“We are monitoring some sites against the misguided expectation that there are more minerals in them. Individuals tend to go to the abandoned mining sites in search of minerals”
Kamanzi also reiterated a six-month deadline for mining companies to backfill all the pits at their former mining sites.
So far, local authorities have backfilled 53 pits of the 253 that RMB identified as possible for communities to backfill.
“We are discussing with other entities to see how we can make the work easy and cut the cost of backfilling the abandoned mining sites,” Kamanzi said.
Abandoned stone quarrying site
According to figures from RMB, there are over 360 former mining sites that need advanced machinery for backfilling.
Over 300 abandoned mining sites need both machinery and community work while over 250 may need only community work and local authorities’ involvement.
RMB also identified 70 other mining sites that do not need backfilling.
“We have put a lot of effort in inspecting mines and quarries, looking at where and how mining companies do their work to avoid future challenges of open holes as we have them today” Kamanzi concluded.
