Tanzania will be capable of refining 970kg of gold per day as soon as the setting up of three refineries is completed. This is according to the Minister of Minerals, Dotto Biteko, who on June 13th attended the inauguration of the Mwanza Precious Metal Refinery (MPMR) graced by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan.
The factory, which is located in Mwanza, has a capacity of extracting 480kg per day, and another 450 kg processing plant is located in Geita region. Mwanza Precious Metal Refinery (MMPR) gold refinery is worth US $5.3m.
Minister Biteko confirmed the construction of another factory with a capacity of 30kg in Dodoma saying that he was proud of how much the mining industry in the country has advanced.
According to him, the mining sector has managed to increase the contribution to the country’s GDP from 5.2 percent to 6.7% in this year owing to the building of such-like facilities, the execution of mining laws and policies in addition to the prudent management by the Government.
Read: President Samia Launches Gold Refinery in Mwanza
The Minister confirmed that his Ministry has collected over US $234.6m which equals 103% of the set target of amassing US $226.9m for the 2020/21 financial year.
“It is our belief that we will raise more than US $280.3m for the next financial year 2021/22,” he said.
Given the proceeds made since the amending of the mining law and policy, the minister expressed his hope for future success stating that the goal of heightening the sector’s contribution to 10% in the next 4 years will be achieved.
Mining supports more than 50% of Tanzania’s total exports, Gold in Tanzania taking up a larger percentage.