Tanzania is in the final stages of approving a permit for the country’s first rare earths mine to Australian company Peak Resources as the government seeks a bigger share of revenue from natural resources.
The State is also finalising a gold-mining license for another Australian company, OreCorp at the Nyanzaga project in the northwest of the country, according to Mining Minister Doto Biteko.
The East African nation is Africa’s fourth-biggest producer of the precious metal and plans to increase mineral earnings by at least a third during the next three years. It also has vast deposits of coal, rare-earth metals, iron ore and gemstones.
“The government is in the final stages of awarding a special mining license to PR NG Minerals for it’s Ngualla Rare Earth Project,” Biteko said in an emailed response to questions. The company is a subsidiary of Australia-listed Peak Resources.
Rare earths are used in components for electric vehicles, smart phones, renewable energy equipment and defense applications.
JOINT VENTURES
Gold mining, now Tanzania’s leading foreign-exchange earner, is recovering following a slump after a crackdown on smuggling and a drawn-out dispute between the government and a unit of Barrick Gold froze exports.
The government intends to increase mining revenue to 701.1-billion shillings in 2023/24, from a projected 526.7-billion shillings in the current fiscal period. Tanzania will “increase revenues from the mining sector by 33%” by boosting production and exports, curbing smuggling and ensuring closer supervision of the industry, Biteko said.
Last month the government received its first cash dividend of $40-million from a 16% stake in a joint venture with Barrick. Tanzania plans to use the Barrick partnership as a model when negotiating joint-ownership deals with all major mining companies, including with AngloGold Ashanti, in line with mining laws passed in 2017, he said.