From the Financial Times of London:
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BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS: TANZANIA TO BECOME AFRICA'S THIRD LARGEST GOLD PRODUCER, OFFICIAL SAYS
98% match; BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom ; 04-Nov-1999 01:12:44 pm ; 391 words
Annual gold production in Tanzania is expected to reach 40 tonnes in two years time making the country the third largest producer in Africa according to commissioner for minerals Gray Mwakalukwa.
Speaking to `Daily Mail' in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mwakalukwa said so far, resources of over 39m ounces of gold reserves have been delineated in the Lake Victoria greenstone belts.
He said major mine developments underway were expected to yield more than 36 tonnes of gold each year.
Mwakalukwa said more than 573m US dollars has been invested in the sector by several international companies engaged in mining gold in the country.
A medium-scale gold mine producing 180,000 ounces each year came into operation at Nzega, central Tanzania in November a year ago. About 48m US dollars were invested in the project owned by Resolute, an Australian company.
According to Mwakalukwa, some other projects were in various stages and expected to be operational by the year 2001.
He named one of the projects as an underground mine development of a world class gold deposit at Bulyanhulu, with a production rate of 400,000 ounces per annum.
The mine is expected to come into production in 2001 at an estimated capital investment of 280m US dollars.
Another mine is being developed by Ashanti Gold Fields at Geita at a cost of a 165m US dollars.
"The mine will be producing between 400,000 and 450,000 ounces of gold starting around mid next year", he said.
An Australian company by the name Afrika Mashariki Gold Mines is also constructing a mine at Tarime near the Kenyan border, investing about 80m US dollars.
"The project is projected to produce 140,000 ounces of gold a year," he said.
"Coupled with amounts produced by small and medium- scale mining operations, Tanzania will be the third largest gold producer in Africa after South Africa and Ghana," he said...
He said the country's mineral potential lies in gold, base metals, iron, diamonds, industrial minerals, uranium, coal and a wide variety of beautifully coloured gemstones.
Addressing a South African trade mission earlier this month, Mwakalukwa said the government is serious and committed to develop the mineral sector to take a leading role in the growth of the country's economy alongside tourism and agriculture...
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