Ndara B Community members made a tour to Kajiado County to the Kajiado Marble Quarry (KMQ) town. They were able to learn about mining of limestone. Ndara B Community land has vast deposits of limestone that the community is looking forward to mine.
The tour came about after Dr. Patrick Shompole, the owner of the mining industry visited the Ndara B Community land where Diaspora University Town (DUT) development is progressing. On seeing the limestone on the land Dr. Shompole invited the Ndara B Community members to come tour his plant as they explore mining of limestone.
During the tour, Dr. Shompole explained to Ndara B land management committee members that he leases land he mines from the owner. He showed the committee the process of mining and manufacturing. He said, “Currently we are manufacturing four products that are used for chicken feed making, animal feed and building material.” He showed the committee the manufacturing process and packaging process.
On inquiry of the heaps of limestone he said that there is zero waste. “This you see here can also be used as road construction material.”
Dan Kamau, the executive trustee, and project director said that the mining at Ndara B Community land opportunity adds to the building and road construction materials for Diaspora University Town. He said, “We had estimated about Kshs 2 billion materials based on Sand, Stones, Murram and Wood products. With limestone and the array of products that can be produced from the raw materials from limestone, an industrial area can be started.”
Limestone is applied in the manufacture of an array of products that include chicken feeds, cow feeds, consumer goods, building materials, marble, road construction, medicines, farming supplements and others.
The deposits inside the 5,500 acres Ndara B Community land are estimated in the billions of tonnes. An assessment is that Ndara B Community can earn over Kshs 2 billion in the next 10 years as it mines the limestone. The committee members as they toured discussed the process of creating a plan that they will implement.
The committee will be calling upon the Diaspora Kenyans to invest in the plans for mining and manufacturing. Dr. Shompole on his part said, “I’ll help you get started through training and advising on how to set-up the right production factory and the equipment to use.” He gave the committee a summary of the equipment needed to get started and where to buy the equipment.
