Mining Introduction | Leading Mines

Over the course of three short years, Tanzania has grown from a 5.5 tonnes per year (0.18 million oz) gold producer to 33.8 tonnes (1.09 million oz) in 2001, making it the fourth largest gold producer in Africa, according to GFMS. For many years a small output of alluvial gold was recovered unofficially and smuggled out of the country. However, major international mining groups have been busy exploring a greenstone belt near Lake Victoria and have come up with substantial deposits. The first of the new generation of gold mines, Golden Pride, was opened by the Australian company Resolute in 1998 with a planned annual yield of around 7 tonnes (0.23 million oz). Two further new mines have been opened in the last two years as the heavyweights of the gold mining industry joined in. Geita, jointly owned by AngloGold and Ashanti, came on-stream in August 2000 and produced 17 tonnes (0.55 million oz) in its first year of full production. Barrick Gold's Bulyanhulu mine started production less than a year later and produced 7.5 tonnes (0.24 million oz) during 2001, with output expected to grow to 12 tonnes (0.4 million oz) in 2002. The combined production from these three mines should take Tanzania's total output close to 35 tonnes (1.1 m oz), ranking it among the world's top 15. A number of further projects are being evaluated at present, raising the possibility that output could continue to grow strongly in coming years.