USA sets its sights on Kenya’s Coast: The rare minerals beneath Mrima Hill in Kwale

The United States has pledged to support Kenya in developing a critical-minerals processing industry, with Mrima Hill at the centre of the discussions.

US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia said Washington wants to support investment in processing, technology transfer, worker training and industries built around Kenya's mineral resources.

President William Ruto has similarly promoted local processing rather than exporting raw materials.

The US and China are competing for secure supplies of critical minerals used in advanced manufacturing, defence, electronics and clean-energy technologies.

Reuters reports that two US-based consortia and four other companies are competing for the right to develop Mrima Hill.

What minerals are beneath Mrima Hill?

Mrima Hill is in Kwale County, on Kenya's southern coast, and covers about 31.9 square kilometres under the government's current project area.

The 2026 Kenya Gazette describes the deposit as a Cretaceous alkaline carbonatite intrusion within the Dzombo-Mrima-Kiruku igneous complex.

Government geological data shows mineralisation containing niobium and rare earth elements, with niobium grades reaching 1.41% Nb₂O₅ and rare-earth grades reaching 7.12% TREO in sampled material.

The government's tender documents put the indicated resource at 5.8 million tonnes grading 1.41% Nb₂O₅ for niobium and 48.7 million tonnes grading 4.4% total rare-earth oxides.

The inferred resource is substantially larger: 17.5 million tonnes at 1.41% Nb₂O₅ and 110.7 million tonnes at 5.61% TREO.

These are resource estimates, not proven reserves or cash sitting underground, and actual commercial recovery would depend on further exploration, metallurgy, costs and mine design.

What exactly are 'rare earth' minerals?

“Rare earths” refers to a group of 17 metallic elements with specialised magnetic, electronic and chemical properties.

They are used in products ranging from electric motors and wind turbines to electronics, precision equipment and defence systems.

Some rare earths, particularly neodymium and praseodymium, are important in high-performance permanent magnets.

Niobium is different but equally strategic.

It is primarily used as an alloying element to make stronger, lighter steel, including steel used in pipelines, transport infrastructure and other demanding applications.

That combination gives Mrima Hill unusual strategic importance:

The site contains minerals that sit inside several of the technologies and industrial supply chains major economies are trying to secure.

The $62 billion figure

Mrima Hill has often been described as a $62.4 billion mineral deposit, a valuation associated with former project developer Cortec/Pacific Wildcat and widely cited in subsequent reporting.

But that figure should not be read as Kenya having a Sh8 trillion cheque underground.

It is an estimate of the potential value of the contained minerals based on historical resource information and commodity assumptions.

It does not account for the enormous cost of building a mine, processing facilities, power, roads, environmental safeguards, financing or the recovery losses that occur between ore and saleable product.

The more useful fact is that the deposit is large enough to have attracted serious international competition.

Complicated history

Mrima Hill has been known to Kenya's geological authorities for decades.

The government says the deposit was identified in the 1930s, while a joint exploration programme involving the Kenyan Mines and Geological Department and Anglo American in the 1950s carried out more than 9,000 metres of test shafts and over 3,000 metres of drilling.

The most contentious chapter came later.

Cortec Mining obtained a controversial special mining licence in 2013, which the government revoked.

Kenya's courts subsequently found serious legal problems surrounding the licence, while an international arbitration tribunal later concluded that the purported licence had not been lawfully issued and therefore did not qualify for investment-treaty protection.

That history is important because the government is now trying a very different approach: competitive tendering under the Mining Act.

Details of the mining rights

In March 2026, the Kenyan Ministry of Mining and Blue Economy officially launched a competitive global tender to commercialize the Mrima Hill mineral riches.

Several major international firms and consortia have emerged as the leading bidders including US-backed Mrima Earth Ltd, Ravex and Iluka Resources from Australia and several Chinese state-backed entities.

Under the current government policy and the specific terms of the Mrima Hill tender, the goal is for these minerals to be processed within Kenya (mandatory local value addition).

Royalties from the project will be distributed using a fixed formula (70% to the National Government, 20% to Kwale County Government and 10% held in trust for local communities).

The government aims for the mining sector to contribute 10% to Kenya's GDP by 2030.