Tanzania has in recent times emerged as a prominent African gold producer and is now the continent’s third-largest gold-producing country after South Africa and Ghana. Moreover, the country is thought to have Africa’s second-largest gold reserves (after South Africa) and has proven gold reserves in excess of 36 Moz (1000t). Gold exploration grew rapidly in the late 1990s, with particular investigation focused on the greenstone belts around Lake Victoria – a region that now hosts several “world class” deposits. The Tanzanian government’s Development Vision 2025 projects that the mining sector will account for 10% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025.

 

The Mining Act 1998 provides the framework for tenure to Tanzanian mining areas and shares many features with mining regimes common in developed countries. Depending on the stage of mining operations, the following types of licence apply:

 

 

 

 

Tanzania s well-developed system of mining laws, as well as the absence of any mandatory state or local equity participation in Tanzanian mining ventures, makes the country an attractive destination for foreign mining investment.

 

 

The Mkurumu Project is located in eastern Tanzania, approximately 125 km south-west of Dodoma. Although not as extensively explored as the Lake Victoria region to the north of the country, a number of potentially exploitable gold concentrations were discovered in eastern Tanzania prior to the 1970s, many of which have been subject to little subsequent work. The Mkurumu Project is covered by a Prospecting Licence encompassing an area of approximately 43.39 square kilometers and has well-established accessibility via regional roads and tracks that are linked to sealed highways leading east to the coast and main ports.

 

The Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Anglo Tanzania Gold Limited (“ATGL”) owns a 46% interest in the Mkurumu Project, having earned that interest pursuant to a joint venture agreement with Ashanti Exploration Tanzania (a subsidiary of Anglo Gold Ashanti), which also holds a 46% interest. The remaining 8% of the project is held by local Tanzanian interests. ATGL has full operational control of the drilling and exploration programme for the project.

 

In the first half of 2007 ATGL completed first-phase drilling on the project area, involving 12 diamond drill holes resulting in a total of 1,041 metres of core. A detailed soil geochemical sampling programme covering the entire licence area has subsequently been undertaken, with a view to pursuing identified targets in the next phase of drilling.

 

For recent announcements and other news in relation to the Mkurumu Project, click here.