[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.87]this is the Economics Report.
[00:05.98]Recent discoveries of mineral wealth in Kenya
[00:10.13]could help add to east Africa's biggest economy.
[00:14.30]The government also is taking steps
[00:17.35]to improve the openness of the mining industry.
[00:21.66]But some citizens are concerned
[00:24.93]that new mining projects will damage local communities.
[00:30.24]Mining companies say, the mineral resources
[00:33.81]could be worth billions of dollar.
[00:37.32]Local communities say,
[00:39.42]they hope this will help their economies.
[00:42.95]And the government has warned companies
[00:45.87]about making announcements
[00:47.98]about new  resources before they are confirmed.
[00:52.65]Kenya's Secretary of Mining Najib Balala says
[00:56.76]the government will ask mining companies for details
[01:01.30]about their findings before making them public.
[01:05.52]"Any public announcements by a mining company,
[01:09.45]we as a government needs to have that notification
[01:12.53]21 days before their announcements."
[01:14.83]The discoveries also could upset some communities
[01:18.79]where big mining projects are planed.
[01:22.38]One example is the recent discovery of rare minerals
[01:27.32]in the Mrima Hills in the coast area of kwale.
[01:32.87]The mining company Cortec reported finding a deposit of
[01:38.48]more than 600 kilograms of Niobium.
[01:43.00]The element is used in making steel
[01:46.27]and metal mixtures called superconducting alloys
[01:51.12]that allow electric currents to travel very easily.
[01:55.14]Cortec says the discovery could be worth 50 billion dollars.
[02:01.36]But a dispute has begun between the company,
[02:05.77]the government and the local communities.
[02:08.53]Leaders of the Mijikenda ethnic group which lives near Kenya's coast,
[02:16.39]say they practise their religion in the Mrima Hills.
[02:21.21]Joseph Morando is an official of the kaya people
[02:26.44]who are part of the local ethnic group.
[02:29.74]He says his people are oppose to mineral mining
[02:33.75]in the Mrima forest and in the area.
[02:38.16]He says they are appealing to the government to save the area
[02:43.12]which is an important part of their history.
[02:46.77]The area also is listed as a world heritage site
[02:52.09]by the United Nations cultural agency or UNESCO.
[02:57.30]The Kenya government has not announced how payments it receives
[03:02.77]from mining companies called royalties would be used.
[03:07.89]Mining Secretary Najib Balala is expected to present legislation,
[03:13.77]proposing that the central government take 70% of mining royalty,
[03:20.79]local government would receive 25%
[03:24.29]and local communities would receive 5%.
[03:29.54]The government says it hopes that reforms
[03:32.28]in the mining industry will improve openness.
[03:35.80]Mr Balala says that Kenya canceled 31 mining licences
[03:41.81]during the first half of this year,
[03:44.81]because of concerns over the process for receiving a licence to mine.
[03:51.63]That's this week's Economics Report from VOA Learning English.