Gold
Tanzania Gold Mines Production in 2020
Tanzania is the 4th largest gold producer in Africa after South Africa, Ghana, and Mali and accounts for 1.3% of the total global gold production.
Tanzania’s gold reserves are estimated at about 45 million ounces and Tanzania’s gold production in Tanzania stands at around 50t per year.
Gold exploration is mostly centered mostly on the greenstone belts around Lake Victoria, where several large deposits have been discovered and are being developed.
Tanzania Gold Production
Tanzania’s total gold production reached 55.6 tonnes in the financial year 2020/21, versus 53.7 tonnes in the financial year 2019/20, and 42 tonnes in the financial year 2018/19.
Gold exploitation is done by both large and medium-scale miners as well as small-scale miners.
The major contributors to the gold production in Tanzania in the financial year 2019/20 were Geita Gold Mining Limited (GGM) which contributed 43% as a leading producer followed by North Mara Gold Mine (NMGM) with 21%; Buzwagi Gold Mine (BZGM) with 10%; Shanta Mining Company (SHNT) with 6%; Bulyanhulu Gold Mine (BGM) with 3%; and Stamigold-Biharamulo Gold Mines (SBGM) with 1%.
Tanzania Gold Smelters
Currently, there are three gold smelters operating in Tanzania. The first is located in Mwanza and is operated by the Mwanza Precious Metal Refinery (MMPR).
The second is located in Arusha and is operated by the Arusha Gold Smelter (AGS).
The third is located in Morogoro and is operated by the Morogoro Gold Smelter (MGS).
The Tanzanian government has also awarded licenses for the construction of two more gold refineries to Chinese companies.
Tanzania Gold Export
Tanzania’s gold exports reached USD 2.743 billion in the year ending December 2021, compared to USD 2.957 billion in 2020 and USD 2.215 billion in 2019.
Gold accounted for 89.85% of all mineral revenues of Tanzania in the financial year 2020/21.
Tanzania exports gold mainly to South Africa, India, and Switzerland.
Tanzania Gold Mines
Gold is mainly found in the Lake Victoria region (which hosts the Bulyanhulu, Geita, Buzwagi, and North Mara Mines), the Lupa Gold Field (which hosts the Shanta Gold Mine in Songwe), Mpanda Mineral Field, and the East Tanzania Gold region (Mkurumu and Magam-bazi areas in Handeni).
Geita Gold Mine (AngloGold Ashanti)
Geita Gold Mine (GGM) is located in north-western Tanzania, in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region, about 120km from Mwanza and 4km west of the town of Geita.
The mine is wholly owned by AngloGold Ashanti and sources ore from Nyankanga open pit and from two underground mines (Star and Comet as well as Nyankanga).
As of 31 December 2020, Geita’s mineral resource is at 7.92 million ounces.
The Nyankanga open pit was mined to completion in September 2020. In April 2021, the Nyamulilima open pit commenced operations.
Geita has an established 5.2Mtpa CIL processing plant capable of processing hard ore.
Geita’s gold production reached 486,000 ounces in 2021, versus 623,000 ounces in 2020 (the highest annual production level achieved by Geita in 15 years) and 604,000 ounces in 2019.
North Mara Gold Mine (Barrick)
The North Mara gold mine is located in northwest Tanzania in the Tarime district of the Mara region. It is around 100km east of Lake Victoria and 20km south of the Kenyan border.
The mine has 2.8 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves.
The mine is wholly owned by Twiga Minerals Corporation, a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corporation (84%) and the Government of Tanzania (16%).
North Mara started commercial production in 2002. The process plant has the capacity to process an average of 8,000 tonnes of ore per day.
In 2021, the mine produced 260,000 ounces of gold.
Bulyanhulu Gold Mine (Barrick)
Bulyanhulu is situated in northwest Tanzania, in the Kahama district of the Shinyanga region, approximately 55km south of Lake Victoria and 150km southwest of the city of Mwanza.
Bulyanhulu is a narrow-vein gold mine containing gold, silver, and copper mineralization in sulfides.
The mine has 2.5 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves.
The mine is wholly owned by Twiga Minerals Corporation, a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corporation (84%) and the Government of Tanzania (16%).
Bulyanhulu commenced commercial production in 2001. In 2021, the mine produced 178,000 ounces of gold.
Buzwagi Gold Mine (Barrick)
The mine was closed in 2021.
New Luika Gold Mine (Shanta Gold)
The New Luika gold mine is located in the Songwe District of Southwestern Tanzania approximately 700km southwest of Dar es Salaam.
New Luika’s total proven and probable gold reserves are estimated at 3.6 tonnes.
New Luika is fully owned by Shanta Gold.
The gold production of the New Luika is about 80,000 ounces per year but it reached only 55,280 ounces in 2021.
Singida Gold Mine (Shanta Gold)
The first gold pour of 35 ounces was successfully conducted at the Singida Gold mine in central Tanzania on 30th March 2023.
Singida has considerable upside potential given its location within a Greenstone deposit, meaning it is well suited to further exploration growth.
Only 26% of current resources are included in the existing life of mine plan and 90% of contained gold reserves are less than 150 meters from the surface, highlighting the potential for reserve expansion at depth.
Biharamulo Gold Mine (Stamigold)
The Biharamulo Gold Mine (formerly Tulawaka Gold Mine) is located 160km southwest of Mwanza in the western part of the Lake Victoria Goldfield, in Biharamulo District, Kagera Region.
The mine is operated by Stamigold, a subsidiary of Tanzania’s State Mining Corporation (Stamico).
The mine started operations in July 2014.
Buckreef Gold Mine (TRX Gold – Stamico)
The Buckreef gold mine is located in the Geita District of the Geita Region south of Lake Victoria, approximately 110km southwest of the city of Mwanza.
The mine’s measured mineral resource stands at 19.98MT at 1.99g/t gold containing 1,281,161 ounces of gold and indicated mineral resource stands at 15.89MT at 1.48g/t gold containing 755,119 ounces of gold for a combined tonnage of 35.88MT at 1.77g/t gold containing 2,036,280 ounces of gold.
Buckreef Gold Co., the company that owns the project, is a joint venture between TRX Gold (55%) and Stamico 45%).
In June 2021, TRX Gold announced that the preliminary Q3 2022 production reached 2,733 ounces of gold, exceeding previous production guidance of 750-800 ounces of gold per month, as well as preliminary Q3 2022 sales of 3,033 ounces of gold.
The company continues to expect production of 750-800 ounces of gold per month.
Last Updated: 16th June 2022
Sources: AngloGold and Ashanti, Bank of Tanzania (BoT), Barrick Gold, Shanta Gold, Tanzania Chamber of Mines, Tanzania Mining Commission, Tanzania Ministry of Minerals.
