The Kerio Valley -
The Kenya Fluorspar Story
The story of fluorspar mining in Kenya began over half a century ago when a lone prospector trying his luck on the slopes of the remote Kerio Valley mistook some interesting looking rocks for gemstones. What he had stumbled across were not gemstones but purple fluorite, a mineral used around the world in many critical industrial processes including metallurgy, ceramics and the manufacture of optical lenses.
From small beginnings, when the fluorite was mined by hand and transported by donkeys up the precipitous valley slopes, the industry faced many ups and downs overs the years as various approaches were tried to bring success to the enterprise. In order to exploit the deposits on a larger scale, the Kenya government decided to purchase the land and compensate the owners, completing the exercise in 1986.
