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Tanzania's demands on mines
Allan Seccombe
Posted: Tue, 06 Feb 2007

[miningmx.com] -- TANZANIA wants mining companies investing in the country to take a million artisanal and small-scale miners under their wings for training, technology transfers and markets, Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete said on Tuesday.

Tanzania’s minerals ministry will within a month issue tenders for the development of two coal deposits and one iron ore deposit. It is in talks with South African, Indian and Chinese companies who are interested in the deposits.

The tax environment is in the throes of changes to bring revenues into government coffers quicker and it has brought Barrick Gold and Resolute on board. Their tax regime is now a 30% corporate tax and a three percent royalty on gold.
reaching out to other companies
Under the old legislation, companies could defer tax for up to 20 years.

“Now that everyone is happy (with Barrick and Resolute) we look forward to reaching out to other companies,” Kikwete said at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town. He is the first head of state to address the 12-year-old Indaba.

Artisanal mining in Africa is one of the most challenging issues facing international companies setting up operations on the continent. Many companies have people mining under dangerous conditions on their tenements and the question of how to deal with them is one which management is grappling with.

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Banro, which is exploring a large gold prospect in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said it has learnt hard lessons from others taking an overtly adversarial role in dealing with artisanal miners in other locations, putting potential projects back years.

The Tanzanian artisanal miners extract gold, diamonds and gemstones.

“Artisanal mining is a reality we have to face,” Kikwete said.

“They lack the skills and markets to earn a return on their sweat. You can help,” he told hundreds of mining executives gathered in Cape Town.

An offshore gasfield, estimated to be five trillion cubic feet in size, has been discovered in the past month by the French outfit Maurel Prom, he said. Tanzania has two existing gas fields.

More exploration work will be done on the newly discovered gas deposit to determine its exact size.