editor
Uganda has stunned the world with a bold claim: the discovery of over 31 million metric tonnes of gold ore, a find so vast that, if verified, it could yield $12 trillion in refined gold—more than all the gold ever mined in human history.
The announcement, initially made by Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, has triggered both excitement and skepticism across global financial and mining sectors. If accurate, the discovery could catapult the East African nation from one of the world’s poorest economies into a global mining superpower.
Officials say international investors are already lining up. Several companies, including Chinese-backed firms, have begun injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into exploration and early extraction operations, with projections that Uganda’s GDP could grow by up to 15% annually over the next decade.
“This could be a game-changer for Uganda,” said Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa, Uganda’s Minister for Energy and Minerals. “The gold discovery has the potential to fundamentally reshape our economy and reduce our dependency on foreign aid.”
The Karamoja region, long known for its mineral wealth, is reportedly the primary source of the discovery. The government says it has completed extensive aerial and geophysical surveys to support its estimates.
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However, many mining experts are calling for independent verification of the numbers, warning that the scale of the discovery is “geologically improbable.”
“This is not a small exaggeration—we’re talking about rewriting the entire history of gold mining,” said Dr. Martin Keppler, a mining geologist based in South Africa. “Until core samples are analyzed and verified by independent labs, these figures should be treated with caution.”
The World Gold Council notes that only about 205,000 metric tonnes of gold have been mined throughout recorded history. Uganda’s claim, therefore, represents a volume more than 100 times the world’s current annual gold production.
Uganda says it will begin refining operations domestically to ensure the country benefits fully from its resources, bypassing traditional export models. The government has also promised to release detailed geological data in the coming weeks to back up its findings.
