Start of four mining projects delayed

Dar es Salaam. Four mining projects will not take off as expected as the government and companies grapple with infrastructural challenges to the project sites, the government has said.

The projects would employ a total of 500 people directly, according to the acting commissioner for minerals, Mr Ally Samaje.

“Basically, the Kabanga Nickel Project, the Mkuju Uranium Mining project, the Liganga Iron Ore and a gold project by Bafex were scheduled to have started before the end of December 2016 but due to challenges associated with infrastructure, it will take a little longer,” Mr Samaje said during the Tanzania Investment Conference in the city yesterday.

He mentioned such challenges as poor roads, railways, communication and electricity shortage.

However, he said the public and private sectors have put in place strategies to address the challenges.

He is optimistic that some of the said projects will start operating soon.

It is projected that the private sector will contribute at least 10 per cent to the gross domestic product by 2025, up from three per cent currently. He said between 1998 and 2015 Tanzania has collected a total of Sh2.12 trillion in various taxes and loyalties from mining companies.

Speaking during the event, the director of membership services at the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation, Mr Louis Accaro, said the country also needs to create public awareness on the mining sector and how it operates.

“Some people have a negative perception regarding the mining sector yet they know virtually nothing about its operations….Most members of Parliament claim that the sector does not remitting the right amount of tax to the government yet they know very little about the mining business,”he said.

The also focused on investment opportunities. Tanzania is endowed with mineral deposits of high economic potential. They include gold, iron, silver, copper, platinum, nickel, tin, diamonds, tanzanite, ruby, garnet, emerald, alexandrite, sapphire, kaolin, phosphate, lime, gypsum, diatomite, bentonite, vermiculite, salt, beach sand, coal and uranium.