Tanzania’s State Mining Corporation (STAMICO) and Coast Nickel of China will build a large-scale nickel and copper processing plant in the Lindi Region, with operations expected to start before the end of 2025.
The project is part of a long-term plan to develop large-scale mining and processing of strategic minerals from Ntaka Hill in Nachingwea District, Lindi Region.
Twenty-four of the 38 paid-for shipping containers with plant equipment have already arrived in the country.
Coast Nickel is a subsidiary of China’s Ningbo Shuangneng Group, which operates similar facilities in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, and Yangshan, Jiangxi Province.
The agreement was reached during a visit by STAMICO’s Managing Director, Dr Venance Bahati Mwasse, to China between 5 and 8 August 2025 to inspect modern strategic mineral processing technology.
During the visit, the delegation toured Ningbo Shuangneng Environmental Protection Technology, a subsidiary of Ningbo Shuangneng Group, which processes waste and tailings from metal and oil & gas industries to recover metals including lithium, nickel, and molybdenum.
In meetings with Ningbo Shuangneng Group Chairman Hou Tianyou, Dr Mwasse confirmed STAMICO’s commitment to advance the Ntaka nickel project by completing geological assessments and resource evaluations within the project’s licence area.
This will involve gathering additional geological data, securing a licence for an unexplored section, validating existing drilling data, and updating nickel and copper resource estimates.
He also invited the investors to visit Tanzania to explore additional cooperation opportunities.
The Ningbo Shuangneng Group confirmed its readiness to finance and provide technology for immediate commencement of the plant construction in Tanzania, subject to the completion of geological verification.
The company requested that STAMICO expedite geological assessments, as these will determine the plant’s scale and long-term viability.
The Ntaka Hill Nickel Project
The Ntaka Hill Nickel Project is a development-ready advanced nickel sulfide project in southern Tanzania with estimated Mineral Resources of 56.2mt @ 0.63% Ni, 0.14% Cu, 0.02% Co for 356,380t of contained nickel1, JORC (2012).
In July 2024, Indiana Resources Limited (ASX: IDA), the project’s majority shareholder, reached a US$90 million settlement with the United Republic of Tanzania, resolving a long-standing dispute over its development.
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