Beryllium is a metal found in pegmatite in old igneous terrains not in Greenstone systems with a cut-off grades always greater than 0.5 percent in ores.
This week we will present the last two minerals beryllium and lithium of the eight strategic mineral suite discovered in the makinikia mineral brew as well as continue dissect this fascinating makinikia story.
Beryllium is a metal found in pegmatite in old igneous terrains not in Greenstone systems with a cut-off grades always greater than 0.5 percent in ores.
Even if beryllium was found in the Bulyanhulu or Buzwagi deposits its concentrate grades of 0.09 – 0.15 percent are too low for an economic exploitation.
Also, Lithium metal is found in pegmatites granitic rocks not in Greenstone rocks as being suggested by the Committee. Lithium is also mined from sedimentary clays with cut-off grades of 1 percent.
Lithium is also found dissolved in brines within rift systems with cut-off grades of 4 percent Lithium. Finding economic lithium deposits in a sulphide deposit is next to a geological miracle.
Grades of 0.11 – 0.15 percent lithium that were reported in a concentrate are too low to make an economic extraction of lithium. The Committee concluded that in the 277 containers investigated the total value of all 8 metals found in the concentrate (makinikia) amounted to Sh2.27 trillion.
In conclusion therefore, although it was reported that eight strategic minerals contained in the concentrate were not reported for wicked intentions of looting the country from its mineral resources but the grades reported in the concentrate for each strategic mineral were all below the required cut-off grades of ores and concentrate to merit economic metal extraction.
In other words all of the so called “strategic minerals” mentioned in the Presidential Technical Report that were supposedly occurring in gold-copper gold deposits has normal crustal abundances and there are no concentrations of economic value for economic extractions.
The suggestion that there can be such metals in economic concentrations for extraction in the copper concentrates has no grounds.
The assembly of economic geologists, mining geologists and mining engineers from the mining fraternity will continue to be amazed by this unprofessional work for decades.
However, political analysts have speculated as to why professionals with such profound academic distinctions would report information of common knowledge in such a convoluted manner.
They (analysts) theorise that a twisted report of that kind was probably part of an organised plan by the President to draw investors to the negotiating table. This was perhaps part of game plan to further the economic liberation war to emancipation the nation from the imperialists as will be chronicled in coming narratives.
Apart from the report presenting mineral contents in the concentrates it also recommended among other things the following: first, the export of concentrates be banned until such time that the rightful royalty proceeds were calculated and paid to the government; second, the government must initiate the construction of a smelter in the country so that concentrates would be smelted within the country; and thirdly, the Tanzania Mineral Audit Agency and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals management who were responsible for managing the mining sector be held responsible for allowing this looting to happen.
The Presentation of the Technical Report at the State House on May 24, 2017 prompted the President to form a second Economic Committee to look at the economics of the loot based on the results of the Technical Report.
The committee constituted a number of lawyers and economist. The committee was led by a retired professor of economics from the University of Dar es Salaam. The Committee conducted the evaluation and on the June 12, 2017 presented its findings to the President.
The copy of this report containing the findings is found at the following web address: https://sjposters.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/taarifa-ya-pili-ya-makinikia.pdf. The report inferred the sum effect of the under-declaration of the mineral contents for the period since the year 2000, when the accused mines had started producing and exporting copper concentrates.
Next week we will examine the work of the Economic Report regarding its proposals and recommendations to enable the country sail towards economic liberation.
