A UK firm has announced the discovery of gold worth Sh 171B in Kakamega County.

According to Acacia Mining, the firm has discovered an estimated resource of 1.31 million ounces of high-grade gold at its mines in the Liranda Corridor in Kakamega.

“We have found an Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 1.31 million ounces of gold at a grade of 12.1 grammes per tonne on the Liranda Corridor. This is one of the highest grade projects in Africa today, and we believe that this initial resource is a first step in the delineation of a multi-million ounce high-grade corridor,” said Brad Gordon, the firm’s CEO, in a statement yesterday.

Gordon has however said that the 1.3 million ounces of gold is not enough to make the project economically viable and at least 2-3 million of ounces, adding that the firm will continue to undertake more tests and drill more exploratory wells.

Gold has been found in Kakamega

“The discovery of 1.3 million ounces of gold is an encouraging start to what we hope will ultimately be the discovery of a multi-million-ounce gold camp, but 1.3 million ounces on its own is small. For the project to be economically viable, we would need the deposit to be at least two million ounces to three million ounces.” He said.

Mining Cabinet Secretary Dan Kazungu said the government has provided a conducive environment for sustainable mineral exploration.

“We are taking significant steps such as the ratification of the 2016 Mining Act to establish a robust legislative framework to support our developing mining industry,” Kazungu said.

Acacia mining has spent nearly $30 million (Sh3.1billion) in the past four years, exploring more than 2,800 square kilometres in Kenya since 2012 and will inject more than $12 million (Sh1.2billion to prospect further on the corridor over the next 12 months.