In 1967, fluorspar deposits were first discovered in the Kerio Valley and the Kenyan government established the Fluorspar Company of Kenya to exploit them on a large scale. The company went into receivership in 1979, as Kenya Fluorspar, another government-owned company, bought the assets and took over operations. In 1996, Canadian businessman Charles Field-Marsham acquired KFC as part of a government reform effort of corporate privatization, entering into a 20-year lease with the government for 3,664 hectares of land.:File:///C:/Users/Maor/Downloads/Wikipedia Kenya Fluorspar Company Edited.docx#%20edn1|. KFC halted its mining operations in February 2009 due to an economic downturn, laying off 190 workers, but resumed operations in June 2010. Operations were scaled down in June 2015, with the company laying off 75 workers and attempting to sell its existing fluorspar stock. In February 2016, the company announced that it would halt operations again, citing weak global fluorspar demands. By June, the company had halted its operations and laid off over 2,000 workers. The company's land lease expired in March 2018 and was not renewed. In April 2018, control of the company’s mine and various assets reverted back to the Kenyan government. In January 2018, it was announced that the Kenyan government set up a task force to see out the compensation of over 4,000 land owners who were displaced to make way for the company's mining activities in the 1970s. However, disputes among locals over the mode of compensation, with some seeking alternative land and others demanding money, as well as disagreements between locals and state officials over the amount owed have delayed the process.
Operations
Kenya Fluorspar's mining operations take place on land leased to the company by the Government of Kenya. The land was acquired in 1986 through a compulsory purchase order and compensation paid by the government. Much of its product is exported to India and Europe. In 2005, production was valued at $14 million. In March 2012, the company completed a de-bottlenecking of its processing plant to increase its total capacity to 130,000 tonnes, up from 121,000 tonnes in 2011. The company has asserted that it had taken various steps to address environmental concerns, such as through dust and spillage reduction, water purification and recycling, and tree planting. The company complies with NEMA requirements and holds a certificate of environmental compliance.
In 2008, the company sponsored an annual 10 km road running competition in Kerio Valley and the football team Fluorspar F.C., which competed in the Nationwide League. In August 2012, the company launched a taekwondo gym known as the Kenya Fluorspar Centre in Kerio Valley.
