The Founder's Diagnostic: Rebuilding Uganda's Historic Tin Mine

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Mike Beare (Co-Founder & COO, H5 Resources Limited)

How do you take a brownfield tin mine abandoned in the 1960s, overrun by thousands of artisanal miners, and transform it into a modern, zero-waste, low-carbon operation?

In this episode of the Founder Series on The Mining Pulse, we travel to Uganda to speak with Mike Beare, Co-Founder and COO of H5 Resources. H5 is currently undertaking the methodical rebuild of the Mwerasandu Tin Mine, operating an active alluvial plant while targeting a high-grade underground decline for Phase 2.

In this episode, we diagnose:
•Uganda as a Mining Jurisdiction: Why stable governance, cheap hydropower, and low labor costs make it an overlooked frontier for mineral investment.
•The Artisanal Challenge: Navigating the complex reality of 600+ artisanal miners operating on the license—and why aggressive eviction was abandoned in favor of formalization and future underground employment.
•Closure Up-Front: How H5 is executing a "zero-waste" strategy by repurposing alluvial clay for brick-making and selling sand/gravel as local construction material.
•The "Fabricator" Pitfall: Hard technical lessons learned when sourcing processing equipment from China, and why design IP and component quality matter more than price.
•The Carrier Metal Concept: Why you can't build a mine solely for critical minerals like Beryllium, and how Tin serves as the economic anchor to extract highly lucrative byproducts.

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17 Jun English South Africa Business · Education

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