London-Based Firm to Acquire Kenya’s Bamba Mining Project for Up to Ksh 47 Billion
London-listed mining and development firm Marula Mining PLC has successfully completed its legal, financial, and technical due diligence for the proposed acquisition from a Kenyan-incorporated mining company, Bamba.
In a notice dated September 3, Marula Mining confirmed that both firms have now entered into a joint venture, with Marula owning 60 percent of the Bamba manganese project in Kilifi County, Kenya, while Bamba retains the remaining stake.
“As announced on 13 August 2025, with the Company’s Board of Directors now satisfied that the due diligence work that was undertaken confirms the strategic importance and value of the Project, the Company will proceed to prepare the formal joint venture documentation, including commercial agreements and associated shareholder documentation that will establish an operations committee with the provisions for governance, operating budgets, profit distributions, reporting, key operating and production related matters,” read the notice in part.
As part of the acquisition, the Company issued 500,000 new ordinary shares of 0.01 pence each for 5 pence per share on August 25 to settle £25,000 (Ksh 4,339,000) due to Bamba.
Marula Mining Company to Acquire 60% of Bamba Manganese Project for Up to Ksh 47 Billion
Marula will make a one-off cash payment of £250,000 (Ksh 43,390,000) to Bamba upon selling 100,000 tonnes of manganese ore from the project.
The company will fully fund a 12-month exploration and development program to establish and integrate large-scale commercial manganese mining and processing operations.
Marula will use cash flow from its manganese operations in Kenya to fund the project.
It also plans to invest in new mining and processing equipment, targeting a minimum monthly production of up to 10,000 tonnes of saleable manganese ore over the next three months.
Additionally, the mining company will fund 100% of all working capital and development expenditure required to meet the estimated production targets and will further identify and secure offtake agreements for the delivery of 100% of production on mutually acceptable terms.
This funding is planned to be met from the Company’s operating cash flow from its manganese operations in Kenya.
The company said manganese ore export sales from the Kilifi Manganese Processing Operations, initially due by April 30, 2025, have been delayed due to the project’s acquisition and its integration into the company’s broader large-scale manganese mining, processing, and value addition plans in the area.
The delay aligns with the process of finalizing delivery arrangements under a five-year agency framework contract with Baosteel Resources South Africa (Pty) Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of China Baowu Steel Group Co., Ltd., the world’s largest steel producer.
Marula Mining is an African-focused battery metals investment and exploration company and has interests in several high-value mining operations and mine development projects in Africa.
Bamba Mining Company Ltd, a Kenyan-registered private firm licensed to explore and extract base metals such as manganese, iron, chrome, copper, and coal, began manganese mining in Kilifi County, Kenya, in 2018 as the sole licensed operator in the region.
Starting in several sites across Ganze sub-county, including Bale, Mgumoni, Sitaki, Sosoni, Vilwakwe, Kadzandani, Mangororo, and Mayowe, local women and youth quickly adopted manganese mining as a primary livelihood, drawn by the significantly higher earnings compared to small-scale farming.
