Governance & Compliance
Compliance-first, not commercial-first.
Licensing, environmental, and land processes are built in parallel with the commercial plan, not after it. Kenya licenses mining and mineral dealing as separate rights — this page states, by name, which processes apply to INFO MEMA and where each one stands.
The licensing pathway
All mineral licensing in Kenya runs through the Kenya Mining Cadastre Portal, administered by the Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs. Buying and exporting ore is not one licence but several, applied for separately:
- Mineral Dealer’s (Trading) Licence — authorises domestic buying and selling of minerals; renewed annually.
- Mineral Export Permit — a separate authorisation from the Dealer’s Licence, required for every export consignment, valid 30 days per shipment.
- NEMA environmental licence — required for the processing facility regardless of which mineral licence applies, via a NEMA-registered EIA Expert.
Because INFO MEMA sources ore from licensed artisanal-mining cooperatives rather than operating pits directly, the applicable rights are being confirmed directly with the Directorate of Mines — the line between “dealer buying from artisanal miners” and “mine operator” is one regulators have flagged as needing case-by-case confirmation.
Land & community consent
The Kitui site sits on leased land that is, in part, subject to Kenya’s Community Land Act consent process rather than a simple title search. That consent process is being worked through alongside site preparation — the land is leased and currently being fenced, and formal documentation is progressing in parallel rather than being treated as a formality to backfill later.
Environmental review
A processing facility with leach and solvent-extraction chemistry is expected to require a full NEMA Environmental Impact Assessment Study, prepared by a registered EIA Expert and including public participation with the Kitui community — a longer-lead-time, licensed-professional-gated process that is being engaged early rather than left until construction is imminent.