Tanzania Resource Wealth
Tanzania's mineral wealth borders on the fabulous:
Apart from Gold, Diamond and Gemstones, Tanzania has abundant mineral reserves of Nickel, Copper, Uranium, Kaolin, Titanium, Cobalt and Platinum and even SALT. Tanzania continues to attract some of the largest mining companies in the world.
Tanzania boasts a gold reserve of 45 million ounces and is the third-largest gold producer in Africa.
Since the 1990's, several major gold discoveries have been made and much larger mines are entering production. These developments and discoveries include the following:
| Geita | 20.0M oz Au | 4.05 g/T Anglo Gold-Ashanti Ltd |
| Golden Pride | 2.7M oz Au | 2.6 g/T Resolute Mining |
| Bulyanhulu | 19M oz Au | 14.0 g/T Barrick |
| Tulawaka | 1.7M tons | 19 g/T Pangaea |
| Buckreef-Rwamagaza | 1.9M oz Au | 3.1 g/T Spinifex |
| Nyakafuru | 0.14M oz Au | 5.7 g/T Spinifex |
| Chocolate Reef – Buzwagi | 2.4M oz. Au | 2.3 g/T Anglo Gold-Ashanti Ltd-Pangaea |
| Golden Ridge | 1.6M oz. Au | 1.4 g/T Barrick-Pangaea |
| Kitongo | 0.33M oz. Au | 1.34 g/T Ashanti-Spinifex |
| Kukuluma-Matandani | 1.96M oz Au | 2.87 g/T Anglo Gold-Ashanti Ltd |
| North Mara | 4.0M oz Au | 3.17 g/T Placer Dome |
Mineral Resources Endowments
Tanzania has gained hugely in the past one year from its gold production and exports. The gold prices gaining substantially in this period also helped the country reap rich dividends.
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Tanzania has a great potential particularly for gold, base metals, diamonds, ferrous minerals and a wide variety of gemstones, some of, which are unique such as tanzanites. Coal, uranium, and various industrial minerals such as soda, kaolin, tin, gypsum, phosphate and dimension stones are available at an attractive economic rates. The following are minerals that have attracted the most interest in the recent years.
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Tanzania has been the major focus of Africa's gold exploration and development over the past five years. As a result, the gold mining industry in Tanzania grew 27% in 1999, a major increase from the previous years' 17%. Between 1997 and 2007, Tanzania's annual gold output increased from 5 to 50 tonnes, with an average growth rate of 38 percent.Up to 15% of Africa's exploration expenditure has been spent in Tanzania, thought to have Africa's largest gold reserves, after South Africa. Diamonds, gold, nickel and gemstones play key roles in Tanzania's growing minerals industry. However, nearly all major developments have been seen in the gold industry.
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Within the four colours making up the Tanzania flag the Golden colour represents the country's mineral wealth.
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Diamonds
The Williamson Diamond Mine (also known as the Mwadui mine) is a famous diamond mine in Tanzania; it became well known as the first significant diamond mine outside of South Africa. The mine was established in 1940 by Dr. John Williamson, a Canadian geologist, and has been in continuous operation since then, making it one of the oldest continuously operating diamond mines in the world. Over its lifetime it has produced over 19 million carats (3,800 kg) of diamonds.
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Tanzanite
The prices of tanzanite gemstones, found only in the Kilimanjaro foothills, continue to firm, a reflection of the rarity of this royal blue to violet hued mineral and the evolution of what is still a nascent global market. Tanzanite One Limited (“TanzaniteOne”), which is also involved in the cutting, polishing and marketing of tanzanite, is the largest-scale miner of the gemstone.
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