Rwanda Mining Tunnels: The Underground Tourism Plan That Could Change African Travel

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Rwanda may eventually ask tourists to go underground for a different reason: not to see minerals being extracted, but to understand how the country extracted them. Mining operators are now examining how underground workings could become tourism and heritage attractions after commercial extraction ends, turning infrastructure built for mining into a second source of economic value.

The proposal centres on GAMICO’s Bashyamba Mine in Nyarugenge District, where the operator has developed an extensive underground network. The idea is still at the planning and feasibility stage. No evidence currently shows that Bashyamba has opened as a tourism attraction, and that distinction matters.

The New Times reported in August 2026 that GAMICO and other mining operators were considering ways to convert underground tunnels into tourism attractions once mineral extraction ends. GAMICO Managing Director, Evode Imena, said the company was exploring guided underground tours, recreational facilities and accommodation as possible uses.

Bashyamba gives the proposal a substantial physical base. The mine has about 20 kilometres of underground tunnels, according to reporting by The New Times. The mine also has a much longer industrial future before any full conversion to tourism could occur. GAMICO has estimated that Bashyamba contains about 3.5 million tonnes of mineral reserves, which could support roughly 35 years of mining at a depth of 80 metres. Imena said extending the mine’s decline to 400 metres could potentially allow operations to continue for up to 100 years.

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Those figures change the way the tourism proposal should be understood. Rwanda is not preparing to shut Bashyamba tomorrow. Instead, the operator is considering what the mine could become decades from now, while extraction continues and new deposits remain under development.

That long planning horizon could become one of the project’s strengths. A mine that takes decades to develop can also give tourism planners decades to study geological conditions, map safe areas, preserve machinery, and record miners’ experiences before memories disappear.

What Visitors Could Actually Experience Underground?

The proposed attraction could go well beyond a simple tunnel walk. A future visitor route could explain how miners locate ore, how drilling technology has changed production, how underground transport works, and how mineral processing connects the mine to wider industrial markets. Former workers could provide oral histories, while museums or interpretation centres could explain the social and economic importance of mining to Rwanda.

GAMICO has already invested in modern mining infrastructure at Bashyamba. The company marked five years of operations in August 2026 with projects including an underground rail transport system, a processing plant, a mine laboratory, a clinic, and a mining academy.

That infrastructure does not automatically make the site suitable for tourists. Mining tunnels present risks related to ventilation, rock stability, flooding, emergency evacuation, and restricted spaces. Any tourism conversion would therefore need an independent engineering and safety assessment before visitors could enter former production areas.

GAMICO has recognised that requirement. The company issued a tender seeking consultants to assess how its mining infrastructure could support a tourism project and determine possible uses over a 25– to 50–year period.

The proposed transition could also begin before mining ends. Imena indicated that tourism activities could operate in suitable upper sections while mining continued safely below. That approach would allow the operator to test visitor demand and build tourism skills without waiting for the final tonne of ore to leave the mine.

For Rwanda, that is more important than it first appears. Post-mining planning often focuses on closure, rehabilitation and environmental management. Tourism adds another question: what productive use can remain after extraction stops?

The African Tourism Opportunity Goes Beyond Rwanda

Africa has an extensive mining history, from the goldfields of South Africa and Ghana to diamond mining in Botswana and Namibia, copper production in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and tin and tungsten mining in Rwanda. Much of that industrial history remains poorly packaged for international visitors.

The opportunity lies in turning mining from a background economic activity into a story that travellers can see, hear and understand. Rwanda’s Nyakabingo Mine illustrates the scale of the country’s modern mining industry. Trinity Metals says the mine produces about 100-110 tonnes of wolframite per month, employs more than 1,800 people, and holds an estimated 115,502 tonnes of recoverable tungsten.

The company also says the mine has a history stretching back to the late 1930s, with underground mining beginning in the late 1960s. That history alone demonstrates how a working mine can carry layers of industrial memory. Rwanda therefore has the ingredients for a broader industrial heritage circuit: active mines, historic mining communities, modern processing facilities, and a government agency already focused on professionalising the sector.

The tourism case, however, should not rest on novelty alone. Visitors need a reason to care. A successful attraction would have to connect geology to people, minerals to everyday products, and mining wealth to the communities that live around extraction sites.

What Rwanda Must Get Right Before Opening the Tunnels

The priority must remain safety. Rwanda should not convert underground workings into tourism facilities simply because the tunnels already exist. Engineers must assess every proposed visitor route. Ventilation, structural stability, water management, emergency access, lighting, communications and evacuation procedures must meet tourism-specific standards. The second priority should be interpretation. A mine tour that merely takes visitors underground will quickly become a novelty. A strong attraction would explain what they are seeing and why it mattered.

The third is community participation. Former miners should not become spectators to a tourism project built around their working lives. They could become guides, storytellers, trainers, craft producers and managers. Local businesses could provide food, transport, accommodation and other visitor services.

The fourth is environmental responsibility. UNESCO’s assessment of Potosí provides both a warning and an example: mining heritage can attract visitors, while continued extraction and structural instability pose serious conservation challenges. Rwanda should therefore design closure and tourism plans together rather than treating tourism as an afterthought.

Why Africa Should Watch Rwanda’s Mining Tourism Experiment

The strongest part of Rwanda’s proposal is not the novelty of taking tourists underground. Other countries already do that. Its significance lies in the timing. Rwanda is considering tourism as a use while mining companies continue to invest in extraction, exploration, and modern infrastructure. That creates an opportunity to document industrial heritage before it disappears and to design future visitor facilities that account for the realities of active mines.

For African destinations, the lesson is broader. A mine does not have to become an abandoned site when extraction ends. With proper planning, some of its infrastructure, stories, and skills can support another economic activity, but Africa should resist the temptation to copy Rwanda mechanically. Each mine has different geological, environmental, historical and safety conditions. Some should close permanently. Others may support museums, observation sites, underground tours, cultural centres or outdoor industrial heritage parks.

The right question is not whether every African mine should become a tourist attraction. It is whether governments and operators are planning early enough to identify the mines that could. For Rwanda, the next test will come when the feasibility studies move from concept to design. If the project proceeds, travellers may one day descend beneath Kigali not to watch minerals leave the earth, but to hear the stories of the people who spent their working lives extracting them.

Read more Rex Clarke Adventures stories on African heritage, tourism development and the places changing how travellers experience the continent.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) And Answers 

What is Rwanda’s mining tourism proposal?

Rwanda mining tourism refers to plans being explored by mining operators to repurpose suitable underground mining infrastructure as tourism and heritage attractions after extraction ends.

Which Rwandan mine is at the centre of the proposal?

GAMICO’s Bashyamba Mine in Nyarugenge District is central to the proposal. The mine has about 20 kilometres of underground tunnels, according to reporting by The New Times.

Will tourists be able to enter Bashyamba Mine immediately?

No. The tourism proposal remains under development. GAMICO has sought consultants to study how the mine could support tourism over a 25- to 50-year planning period.

Does Africa already have mining tourism attractions?

Yes. South Africa offers underground and mining heritage attractions, while countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom also offer historic mine experiences. Potosí in Bolivia provides a major international example of mining heritage within a broader historic landscape.

How could mining tourism benefit African communities?

If properly planned, mining tourism could create jobs for guides and hospitality workers, support local businesses, preserve industrial history and generate visitor spending after mineral extraction declines.