Approximately 65 kilometers from Mombasa, the second-largest city in Kenya, lies Mrima Hill, which is considered a sacred place by the local people. Today, this “sacred mountain” has suddenly become a new battlefield for the competition between China and the United States over key minerals.
On September 27, The South China Morning Post reported that competitors with American and Chinese backgrounds are competing for the development rights of Mlima Mountain. This area contains abundant rare metals and niobium—the latter can enhance the strength of steel and reduce its weight, making it particularly important in industries such as aerospace. Previously, the United States had publicly committed to helping Kenya establish a critical minerals processing industry. When U.S. Secretary of State Powell met with Kenyan President Ruto last week, 'value addition' was also listed as an important aspect of mineral cooperation.
This also directly points out the most noteworthy aspect of this competition—it’s not who will ultimately control the mine, but that Kenya is no longer satisfied with the old resource development model of ‘excavating, loading onto ships, and transporting away’ resources.
In March of this year, Kenya officially launched the bidding for the Mrima Mountain project. Official documents show that rare earths and niobium deposits were discovered as early as the 1930s; the Kenyan government currently classifies both as strategic minerals.
By September, the competition had clearly taken on geopolitical dimensions. The Kenyan mining sector revealed that a total of six companies were in the running, two of which came from the United States. American Critical Metals and Australian RareX had previously announced their participation in the bidding process.
What the United States really wants is not just the mines under the Mrima mountains.
China is currently not only an important producer of rare earths, but also accounts for more than 85% of the global refining and production of rare earths. In other words, even if American companies discover more minerals in Africa, Australia, or even within their own country, if they cannot establish processes for separation, refining, and magnetic material production, the reliance on supply chains will remain difficult to address.
This is also why Washington repeatedly emphasized "local processing" this time.
Luto clearly stated that Kenya hopes to create jobs through domestic processing. American officials also suggested that more value should remain in the mineral-producing countries, rather than just transporting raw minerals overseas. However, American officials also used this statement to criticize their competitors’ resource development practices; China denied these accusations.
For Kenya, this does provide an opportunity.
In the past few decades, the biggest problem for many African resource-rich countries has not been a lack of copper, cobalt, lithium, or rare metals. Instead, the most profitable parts of their industrial chains have remained abroad for a long time. Mines create limited employment, while the smelting, material manufacturing, and industrial profits from ore exports go to other countries.
Currently, both China and the US need key minerals from Africa, and the bargaining power of resource-rich countries is increasing.
In June this year, when discussing the key mineral agreements with the United States, Ruto emphasized that cooperation should be based on investment and local processing, rather than the old model of simply exporting raw materials. Kenyan current mining regulations also require that mining projects prioritize the use of domestic goods, services, and labor, aiming to keep more of the mining value within the country.
Therefore, what truly deserves attention about Mrima Mountain is not just whether the mining rights fall into the hands of American or Chinese companies.
A more important question is: Who is willing to bring processing plants, technology, employment opportunities, and even the material industry to the next stage into Kenya?
This may also be the biggest difference between this new round of mineral disputes in Africa and those in the past.
The more intense the competition between China and the US, the more opportunities African countries have to set higher demands. They are beginning to realize that underground mining is only the first step; what truly can change their economic structure is keeping smelting, processing, and manufacturing capabilities within their own hands through this competition.
If this trend continues, in the future, what China and the US will compete for in Africa will not just be individual mines. It will be who can help resource-rich countries transition from being "ore-exporting countries" to becoming part of the critical mineral industry chains.
