Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera Reopens Kayelekera Uranium Mine

On 12 August 2025, Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera officially inaugurated the Kayelekera uranium mine. In 2020, Australia-based Lotus Resources acquired the mine from Paladin Energy and now holds a 85% stake in Kayelekera mine. Lotus Resources also owns and exploits Letlhakane uranium in Botswana.

The ceremony in Karonga saw the participation of government senior officials as well as traditional chiefs from Karongo and Chitipa regions. Presdient Chakwera underlined the strong local and national support for the project and his government is committed to leverage Malawi’s resources for the benefit of all Malawians.

From 2009 to 2014, the Kayelekera produced nearly 4,200 tonnes of uranium (U308). A restart study was conducted in 2022 and determined that the mine still has a reserve of 4,300 tonnes of uranium ore.

“We continue to make terrific progress in increasing mill throughput and are on track to achieve steady-state production of 200,000 lbs per month, 2.4M lbs per annum,  in early CY2026.”

Lotus Resources MD Greg Bittar

Earlier, Lotus announced that it has started processing of high grade uranium ore at Kayelekera. Initially, stockpiled ore is being utilized to kickstart the production, pending commencement of extractive activities. Some 300,000 tonnes of ore is readily available and represents three months of mill feed. Lotus anticipates that fresh ore will be available by the end of 2025 after extraction gets under way.

President Chakwera indicated that the proceeds from the Kayelekera mine will go into a Sovereign Wealth Fund. He referred to #MalawiVision2063 which seeks to make Malawi into a self-reliant country through investments in key sectors such as mining and agriculture.

Under the new mining code, the project will have to make provision for local suppliers and the inclusion of women. In addition, special attention will have to be paid to youth empowerment.