A Brief History
During the 1920s and 1930s a number of British and South African mining operations opened and diamonds were discovered in the Mwadui area. However, mining activity subsided during the Second World War, during which prospecting for gold was banned.
Following independence in 1961 the mining sector was increasingly brought under the direct control of the state and public institutions such as the National Development Corporation (NDC) and STAMICO. It was not until the late 1980s that the government embarked upon a process of privatisation and liberalisation following changes in macro-economic policies.
In the early 1990s the Government of Tanzania created the Investment Promotion Centre under the Investment Promotion Policy, following which the mining industry began to expand and attract international investors. Government efforts to undertake a mineral sector restructuring programme to encourage and promote private sector led development in partnership with the accumulated geo-data revealing Tanzania’s diverse mineral resources base and potential have strengthened the sector considerably and the Mineral policy of 1997 and the Mining Act of 1998 reinforced this trend.
In 2008 UNCTAD’s World Investment Report showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) had significantly increased with Tanzania ranking as one of the top non-oil African countries in terms of FDI receipts, which was fuelled by the opening up and development of the country’s mining sector. During this period a number of large gold mines were established including Bulyanhulu in Kahama district with a capacity of 450,000 ounces and Geita Gold with a capacity of 650,000 ounces.
An Overview
Minerals available in Tanzania include gold, diamonds, gemstones (such as rubies, aquamarine,tanzanite, sapphire; emerald, rhodolite, opal, zircon, alexandrite, garnets, tourmaline, spinel,peridot, iolite) Iron and Base metals (nickel and cobalt), platinum group metals: (platinum, palladium and Rhodium), Industrial minerals (soda ash, kaolin, salt along the Coast and inland lakes, vermiculites, limestone, silica sands, phosphate, gypsum, mica, dimension stones i.e granites, travertine, marbles, quartzite) and coal resources.
Geological, geochemical, geophysical and mineral occurrence information for assisting investors in selecting prospective areas for license applications are available at the Geological Survey of Tanzania (GST) located in Dodoma. The same information can be retrieved on-line through Visit webportal OR Visit GST website
Currently, eight large scale mines (six for gold and two for gemstone) and a number of small scale mines mainly for gold, diamonds and coloured gemstones are in operation. Also, there are a number of mining projects at advanced stages (Kabanga nickel project, Mantra uranium project, Mchuchuma-Liganga project for coal and iron ore, Nyanzaga gold project, Faru Graphite project, Panda Hill niobium project, Ngualla REEs project, Nyati Heavy Mineral sand projects, Uranex graphite project, Dutwa nickel project, Ngwena (KUDU) nickel project and Kiwira coal project). In a nutshell, exploration work for various minerals is being undertaken by different licence holders in the country. Recently, there is growing interest in exploration of Critical minerals including Lithium, Graphite, Nickel, Rare Earth Minerals, and Heavy Mineral Sands.
The mining sector in Tanzania is among dependable sources of foreign exchange earnings, employment and revenue for the nation. For instance, mineral export earnings from mining has been increasing gradually and remarkably from an average of 1% of total export in 1997 to 52% in 2013. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Economic Survey Report of 2022, the value of Tanzania’s total mineral exports in 2022 was $3,395.3 million, equivalent to 47.0% of the total value of the nation's exports for the year, up from $3,116.4 million in 2021 (46.1% of the total value of exports). In 2022, the government collected taxes totaling $855.3 million US Dollars representing 15.84% of the total domestic tax revenue of the country.
In 2018, the UNEP documented that the country's artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sub-sector had directly employed over one million people with many more relying on it for a living. Most of these are Tanzanians whose subsistence depends on mining. Formalization efforts by the Government have been intensified and a number of Primary Mining Licences (PMLS) issued to Small Scale Miners has been increasing to reach a total of 40,000 by March, 2024.
Large and Medium Scale Mines have been pivotal in spearheading the growth of the sector, contributing more than 70% of the total gold exports. Additionally, by March 2024 large and medium scale mines were recorded to employ 19,356 people out of which 18,853 are Tanzanians as reported by the Ministry of Minerals.
Investment opportunities
- Mineral Exploration
- Mining
- Establishment of gemstone value addition activities
- Establishment of mineral beneficiation activities
- Mineral trading
- Provision of mining services, supply of goods and provision of auxiliary services
- Establishment of geochemical laboratories