Tanzania: Gold Mine in Songwe Commended for Protecting Environment

By Correspondent in Songwe

IN a rare government endorsement, Deputy Minister of State in the Vice-President's Office, (Union and

Environment), Mr Musa Sima, congratulated Shanta Mining Company on good management of toxic waste by building a high-quality storage facility in rural Tanzania.

Accompanied by environmental experts, including Chairman of NEMC Board of Directors, Professor Esnati Chaggu and NEMC Director General, Dr Samuel Gwamaka, the deputy minister praised the company for building a reliable facility in rural Tanzania that guarantees protection of the environment and living things in Saza area that hosts New Luika gold mine. The structure is called by experts a tailing storage facility (TSF).

"I congrtulate you on putting in place this facility that will ensure the environment is not contaminated by toxic waste from the mine," the minister said, adding that the facility was built based on requirements detailed in the Environmental Management Act (EMA). He called on other investors to do the same.

The deputy minister called on Songwe district council and mine officials to identify areas for small miners and give them licences without drama so that their activities could be monitored in order to protect the environment as highlighted in EMA and its regulations.

Professor Chaggu said that New Luika was a major gold mine surrounded by many small miners who had little or no mining knowledge. She called on the mine to forge good relations with small miners and give them appropriate mining knowledge so that host communities could benefit from the existence of the project.

Dr Gwamaka said the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) was satisfied with the way the TSF was built, in comparison with other companies in gold industry in Tanzania. "We congratulate Shanta Company for containing toxic waste in an expert way. Because if the toxic waste entered residential areas, lakes and rivers, the nation would suffer terrible and irreversible harm, and lives of living things would be compromised," he told the delegation.