Eighty (80%) percent of Uganda is now covered by magnetic, radiometric and electromagnetic (EM) surveys for the purpose of promoting mineral exploration.
The Commissioner of the Department of Geological Survey and Mines, Mr Joshua T. Tuhumwire, announced this on January 8 in Kampala.
Vangold Resources Ltd of Canada launched Uganda's latest airborne physical data on Uganda.
Vangold's mineral concessions in Uganda cover 1.4% of Uganda's land surface spread over 32 exploration licenses in regions of high mineral potential.
The High Resolution Airborne Geophysical Survey Programme started in 2006 with financial support in the form of loans and grants from World Bank Organization (WBO), African Development Bank (AFDB), NDL and Government of Uganda, totalling US$ 47 million.
Mr Tumuhairwe said seven blocks, totalling 630,622 line kilometres of magnetic and radiometric surveys are now ready and available for acquisition.
Back in 1961, a regional airborne geophysical survey was conducted for mineral exploration and was funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the government of Uganda achieved almost 50% coverage by 1980.
The block include: Block 1 (southeast-Bugiri and Busia), 2 (west-central-Mubende/Fort Portal/Kamwenge), 3 (southwest-Kabale and Ntungamo), 5 (northwest-West Nile) and 7 (southcentral-Masaka) are 200m and the terrain clearance is 80m.
The surveys indicate that gold is the most widely occurring mineral in Uganda.
It occurs mainly in block 1, 4, 7, which covers Kigezi and Bushenyi, Tororo, Busia, Bugiri, Iganga, Gulu, and Karamoja districts.
Other minerals like copper, cobalt, tin, nickel and wolfram occur in the same area.
Gold also occurs in Block 1 covering the districts of Tororo, Busia, Bugiri and Iganga in eastern Uganda.
Tororo has iron ore and phosphates in Sukuru hills and zinc, limestone, magneticulite and hermiculite, all in Tororo district.
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