To keep work moving forward on its Rwandan smelter to transform coltan into tantalum powder and niobium hydroxide, Canadian firm AB Minerals Corp has enlisted the services of consultant Frank Mugyenyi.

1. To keep work moving forward on its Rwandan smelter to transform coltan into
tantalum powder and niobium hydroxide (AMI 382), Canadian firm AB Minerals
Corp has enlisted the services of consultant Frank Mugyenyi.
A senior industry advisor for the African Union Commission, responsible for
implementing the pan-African organization's African Mining Vision framework,
Mugyenyi has leads within all of the region's mining ministries. He was also an
advisor on "industry and trade" for the United Nations in Zambia and for
Comesa (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa). He could help to
open up communication channels between AB, the Kigali authorities and
governments within the Great Lakes region.
Having worked on responsible value chains and investments, Mugyenyi could
also help AB with its goal to secure traceability accreditations. AB, which is run
by Frank Balestra, intends to supply its mines with coltan from the Great Lakes
region where it is sometimes still being mined to fund conflicts. Certification
would help it to sell its production on international markets.
AB Minerals' other new allies
• Kevin Kirby
To find buyers for its production, AB will be able to draw on the skills of its new
advisor, American Kevin Kirby. Kirby is also vice president of business
development for Titan International Inc. Titan sells spare parts, essentially
made from tantalum and niobium, to the aerospace and catalyst industries. Prior
to that, he worked for metal traders lCD Metals and Shangxiang Minmetals
Inc.
• William Millman
British national William Millman, who set up his own consultancy firm in 2016
to cover conflict minerals, Mines, Minerals, Metals & Markets, will be able to
help AB on more technical and commercial matters. Millman is an expert in
tantalum and niobium. He previously managed AVX Corp, an American-based
manufacturer of electronic components made from these minerals, and chaired
the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center based in Belgium.