THERE are possibilities of domestically smelting and refining the gold concentrates produced in the country using medium scale furnaces currently manufactured by Chinese investors.
According to informed experts in the
mining sector, all that is required is the formation of a team of
experts to analyse the composition of gold concentrate and advice on
suitable technological capacity to use in processing the mineral sand.
“As a matter of fact, the medium-sized
plant requires a feedstock of just 50,000 tonnes per annum, which is
about the same amount produced by Bulyanhulu Gold Mine alone,”
Geological Survey of Tanzania Chief Executive Officer Professor
Abdulkarim Mruma told the ‘Daily News’ in a telephone interview
yesterday.
He said the analysis by the team of
experts on the composition of gold ore will be used to develop a
smelting flowchart for the mineral processing.
“The Mining Policy of 2009 stresses on
value addition for locally mined minerals and gemstones and this should
be the way forward,” the GST boss argued.
Early this month, President John
Magufuli banned the export of the mineral concentrate to mainly China
and Japan, for smelting and refining to recover gold.
Critics of the domestic smelting however
argue that to operate the smelting plant economically, a feedstock of
150,000 tonnes of mineral sand, almost three times the amount produced
in Tanzania, are required annually.
However, Prof Mruma dismisses the
argument as misplaced under the current technological advancement that
has allowed manufacturing of smaller plants to process small amount of
gold concentrate.
“Even at our GST laboratory, we have the
capacity to conduct an examination on composition of gold concentrate
and advice on the technology to use,” he elaborated.
In a follow-up to President Magufuli’s
order, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals pushed for value addition to
create new jobs, boost revenues and technology transfer, bringing more
benefits to the nation.
Tanzania Chamber of Commerce and Energy
(TCME) Chairman Ali Mpungwe was quoted by a section of the media as
remarking: “It is not just about the ban on export of copper
concentrates… the question is whether our copper concentrates production
capacity per annum is economically viable.”
Ambassador Mpungwe argued that at least
500 million US dollars (over 1tri/-) is required to build a mineral ores
smelting and processing plant, with the technology mostly available in
Japan and Germany.
He said at least 150,000 tonnes of
copper concentrates must be supplied annually for the smelting plant to
be economically viable. Currently, the country produces 60,000 tonnes of
copper concentrate per year.
Ambassador Mpungwe belittled claims of
cheating in mineral sand revenues and subsequent due taxes, saying the
process is transparent and every step is subjected to thorough auditing
by government experts.
A study by Tanzania Minerals Auditing
Agency (TMAA) in February 2011 revealed that it was uneconomical to set
up the smelting plant at the time but noted with concerns, “Other
possible by-products from the concentrate (if any) are not declared by
the mining companies.”
The report pointed out that Acacia
Mining owned Bulyanhulu Gold Mine (BGZ) and Buzwagi Gold Mines (BZGM)
are unique gold mines in the country with their gold and silver found
embedded in the ore.
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