Who we are.
UGANDA ASSOCIATION OF ARTISANAL & SMALL SCALE MINERS
UGAASM is an umbrella body that is made of 158 associations of Artisanal and
Small- scale Miners in Uganda. It is represented in all the five Mining regions of Uganda namely, Western Region, Northern Region, Karamoja Region, Eastern Region and Central region. UGAASM was formulated and registered on 6th June
2019 and it embarked on the process of helping Artisanal and Small Scale Miners get legalized/ Formalized and licensed which is required by the new Mining and Minerals law in Uganda.
UGAASM currently has 158 registered associations with a total of about 150,000 ASMs in Uganda, 20 of the associations have acquired mineral rights (Mining licenses) to deal in gold mining and 3Ts among them is MUMA that we helped to acquire 1 Sq. Kilometre in Mubende Central Uganda and BUDIMICS in western Uganda which acquired 35 sq kilometre of mining space and others in different parts of the country. The leaders of the five regional associations also collectively had a chance to consult and harmonize their different positions resulting into ASMs position paper of the Mining and Mineral Bill 2022 and over 50% was adopted in the new law.
UGAASM through its collaboration with ASMs Associations in Uganda has the potential to impact livelihoods, provide crucial inputs for domestic economic development, build interlinkages with the other sectors of the economy, generate more local jobs and ultimately reduce poverty and lead to sustainable development of the country. An estimated over 400,000 men and women are directly engaged in ASM activities both in developmental minerals and high value minerals and materials in the Country.