Tanzania

CIA Factbook
Political rights and civil liberties (Freedom House)
English-Swahili online dictionary
Travel and accommodation

Tanzania, currently (2007) Africa's third largest producer of gold, claims a three percent mining royalty for most minerals and five percent for diamonds and gemstones. It has a conducive mining environment that has seen miners pumping into the country some US$2 billion in the past decade, according to the Tanzania Chamber of Minerals and Energy and in total mining companies have paid the government US$255,526,893 in taxes, within the same period.

Source: CIA Factbook

Maps and images

• Tanzania Google Satellite Maps
• Tanzania Cities,Towns, Airports, Maps, Images
• Tanzania Geology-1
• Tanzania Geology-2
• Tanzania Geology-3
• Tanzania Image-1
• Tanzania Image-2
• Tanzania Image-3 Lake Tanganyika
• Tanzania Minerals

Coal

Click HERE for an overview

Diamond

Click HERE for an overview

History

Although it is often thought that Dr Williamson discovered Tanzania’s first diamonds, the Williamson mine was in fact preceded by several tiny operations,including the Mabuki mine which Williamson worked on and later owned. Williamson eked out a meagre living from Mabuki, which he used as the base for his prospecting operations in what was then known as Sukumaland. In 1940 in the Shinyanga area, around 160 km south of the town of Mwanza on Lake Victoria, he discovered the kimberlite, which would make his name world famous. The site of the mine was named Mwadui – after a local chief – and in the years since the names “Mwadui” and “Williamson” have become virtually synonymous. With the Second World War in progress and with Williamson himself having few resources, development at Mwadui was initially slow but, by the 1950s, a formidable mine had emerged. The total staff and labour force numbered several thousand and included around 400 expatriates, mostly from the UK and South Africa. Williamson made his home at Mwadui and managed the operation very closely. Mining equipment included draglines and scrapers while a succession of treatment plants were built, the first being a pan plant running at a grade of 62 cpht. A notable innovation in the late 1950s was an HMS plant, which ranked as the first in the world in the diamond mining industry. Williamson died early. He contracted cancer and passed away in 1958 at Mwadui, aged 52. The mine passed into the hands of De Beers and the Government of Tanganyika on 13th August 1958 and was later, in 1971, nationalised by the Government of Tanzania (as Tanganyika had become after independence). (Source: De Beers)

Geology

The Mwadui kimberlite was discovered in 1940 by Dr John T Williamson and is the largest primary deposit of it’s kind in the world ever to be mined, measuring some 146 ha at surface. This Cretaceous-aged kimberlite has been mined continuously as an open cast operation since it’s discovery. The Mwadui kimberlite can be subdivided into five major and distinct rock types, viz. the Shale Basin, the Bouma Facies, Granite Breccias, Reworked Volcaniclastic Kimberlite types (RVK), and primary Pyroclastic Kimberlite (PK). The Shale Basin represents a phase of lacustrine sedimentary deposition towards the end of the in-fill cycle of the crater and forms the upper part of the central depositional crater. Diamond grade is extremely low and the material has been avoided during mining. The Bouma facies represents the lower part of the central depositional crater and is distinguished from the Shale Basin by the presence of Shale Basin by the presence of Bouma sequences. Diamond grades of this material are generally low. The lower contact of the central depositional basin is characterized by a substantial Granite Breccia zone. These deposits formed after the final eruptive episode, mainly as a result of collapse of fractured and unstable crater walls, comprising basement granite. The breccia units are characterized by a large range in intermixed volcaniclastic material, resulting in material containing nearly barren to economic diamond grades. The Reworked Volcaniclastic Kimberlite (RVK) deposits were formed in response to reworking of the primary tuff ring deposits as a result of grain flow and debris/avalanche deposits into the open crater. Wall-rock dilution is relatively low compared to some of the other units, resulting in high diamond grades. The material below the RVK can collectively be referred to as Pyroclastic Kimberlite (PK) and can only be observed in the deeper sampling tunnels and drill holes. The kimberlite exploited the existing joint and fracture system during emplacement and the northern and southeastern parts of the crater terminate into hypabyssal facies dykes. The northern dyke can be classified as a macrocrystic monticellite kimberlite with variable phlogopite and microlitic diopside. The southern dyke is poorly exposed and highly weathered. (Source: De Beers)
One of the world’s legendary diamond mines, Tanzania’s Williamson Diamonds Limited is still going strong, 60 years after being established by Canadian geologist, Dr John Williamson. Williamson Diamonds Limited is situated in the town of Mwadui and in the province of Shinyanga, 130 km from the city of Mwanza in Tanzania. The mine has been through an illustrious past and was managed from the early 1970’s to 1994 by the Tanzanian Government. (Source: De Beers) De Beers was invited back in the early 1990’s to manage the Williamson mine and today Williamson Diamonds Limited is owned 75% by De Beers through Willcroft Co Ltd – Bermuda (a De Beers subsidiary), and 25 % by the Government of Tanzania. Diamond production from the three plants was expected to be in the region of 260 000 carats by the 2004 year end. De Beers has formed a joint venture with Dwyka Diamonds in Tanzania in which it has farmed out its remaining exploration licences in that country. Dwyka will actively undertake exploration to feasibility stage, at which point De Beers has the option to buy back in on the Mahene kimberlite, which sub-outcrops over an area of around 6,8 hectares, and the Itanana kimberlite, the smaller of the two Tanzanian kimberlites, measuring between 2,0 and 2,3 hectares in sub-outcrop. Previous but limited drill-core sampling (53 tonnes) by De Beers returned a diamond grade of approximately 8 carats per hundred tonnnes for Mahene and a sampling grade of 3 cpht for Itanana.

Gold in Tanzania

Gold Home

Click HERE for an overview

Geology

Geita is an Archaean mesothermal, mainly banded ironstone formation (BIF)-hosted, deposit. Mineralization is found on sheared BIF-diorite contacts and in the diorite as well. At Bulyanhulu mine, the geology consists of mafic volcanic flows overlain by a series of pyroclastics and ash tuffs. Argillite is present at the contact between the mafic and felsic rocks. The gold, silver and copper mineralization on the property occurs in mineralized “reefs” or quartz veins localize along steeply dipping northwest striking structures, generally localized in the argillite units. The North Mara mine is situated within the Mara Greenstone Belt, part of the larger Lake Victoria Greenstone belt. The underlying geology comprises felsic and mafic volcanics intercalated with sediments which are intruded by various granitoid and gabbroic plutonic rocks. Tertiary volcanic lava flows partially cover the underlying Archaean geology and the ore bodies are structurally controlled, shear-hosted lode gold deposits. The Tulawaka East gold deposit is hosted in a complex upper greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphic terrain comprised of metasediments, including a minor component of metasilicate-iron formation and metagabbro dykes or sills. The local stratigraphy has been folded into a large-scale Z-shaped fold that plunges to the south. The anticline portion of the fold has been cut by a thrust fault sub-parallel to the south-dipping fold axial plane. Gold occurs principally as free gold within quartz veins or stockworks, often associated with felsic intrusives.

• AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) operates the Geita mine, 80 kilometres south-west of the town of Mwanza. It produced 613 000 oz of gold in 2005 and proved and probable ore reserves were then estimated to be 62,4 million t at a grade of 4,23 g/t Au or 264,3 t of gold.

• Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX; TSX:ABX) operates the Bulyanhulu mine, approximately 55 kilometers south of Lake Victoria and approximately 150 kilometers from the town of Mwanza. It produced 311 000 oz of gold in 2005 and proven and probable reserves were then estimated at 10,7 million oz of gold. Barrick also operates he North Mara mine, approximately 100 kilometers east of Lake Victoria and 20 kilometers south of the Kenyan border. It produced 250 000 oz of gold in 2005 from three open pits. The Tulawaka mine is a joint venture with Northern Mining Explorations Ltd or Minieres du Nord (MDN). The mine is located approximately 1,000 kilometers from Dar es Salaam and 120 kilometers west of Barrick’s Bulyanhulu mine. The mine started producing in 2005 and Barrick's share was 87 000 oz of gold. Tulawaka gold production reached a total of 178 618 oz in 2007, compared with 139 655 oz in 2006 - a 28% production increase. In 2007, a total of 176 508 oz of gold were sold, entirely in the spot market, at an average price of $709/oz compared with an average price of $606/oz in 2006. Total revenues in 2007 were $125,1-million compared with $88,7-million in 2006, which showed an increase of 41%. In 2006, Barrick completed a positive feasibility study for Buzwagi, along with 40 per cent of the project's detailed engineering plans. It conducted 200,000 meters of exploration drilling on the property, and identified further targets. Buzwagi has proven and probable reserves of 2,64 million ounces of gold and contains 118 million pounds of copper within the gold reserves; the estimated mine life is 10 years. Its close proximity to Barrick's Bulyanhulu and Tulawaka operations brings significant synergies, including shared infrastructure, personnel, training and equipment. Buzwagi's average annual production is expected to be 240,000-250,000 ounces of gold at total cash costs of $280-290 per ounce of gold. Capital costs are expected to be approximately $400 million (excluding capitalized interest). It expected Buzwagi gold mine to be in production in 2009.
  

• Northern Mining Explorations or Minieres du Nord (MDN) (Canadian, also active in Eritrea) has a 30% interest in the Tulawaka mine which produced 139,655 oz of gold in 2006, and is actively exploring the region surrounding the mine. Minieres du Nord (MDN), aside from its 30% interest in the Tulawaka mine, holds a controlling interest in 20 mineral licenses around Tulawaka, with four projects undergoing drilling programmes. The 102.9 km2 Viyonza Project, located 15 km north of the Tulawaka Gold Mine in Tanzania, was optioned from Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation and drilling during 2007 intersected promising gold values.
  

• Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX:RSG) operates the Golden Pride mine, 750 km north-west of the port of Dar es Salaam and 200 km south of Lake Victoria. It produced 145 043 oz during the 2006 financial year and proven and probable ore reserves are 25,2 million t at a grade of 1,6 g/t Au or 1,264 million oz of gold. Resolute has outlined an additional indicated and inferred 19,4 million t at a grade of 1,7 g/t Au or 1,072 oz of gold at their Nyakafuru project.

• Meremeta Ltd (State) operates the Buhemba gold mine, near Musoma, planned to produce 80 000 oz of gold per year.

• Douglas Lake Minerals (Canadian, DLKM.OB) has acquired five prospecting concessions for properties in eastern Tanzania that cover an area of approximately 1,037.4 square kilometres. The Morogoro Property is located approximately 30 kilometres west of Morogoro. The property's northeast corner extends approximately 26 kilometres to the west and 6 kilometres to the south. The ASW Property (Prospecting License No. 3117/2005) is located 135 kilometres north of the city of Morogoro in east central Tanzania, and is directly adjacent to AngloGold Ashanti's main property. The Kilometre 7 Property (Prospecting License No. 3118/2005) is located 165 kilometres north of Morogoro and approximately 25 kilometres east of Anglo Gold Ashanti’s property. The Negero (Green Hills) Property (Prospecting License No. 2957/2005) is located approximately 150 kilometres north-northeast of Morogoro and covers approximately 20 kilometres of the structural zone to the east and 10 kilometres to the south. The property is located 75 kilometres east of Anglo Gold Ashanti’s property. The company has also signed agreements to acquire the Tabora Property (Prospecting License No. 2810/2004) and the Ashanti South East Property (Prospecting License No. 2683/2004). Early stage exploration is underway by the joint venture partner, Canaco Resources Inc (CAN.V; CANWF.PK)

• IAMGOLD Corporation's Buckreef project is an advanced exploration project located in the Lake Victoria Goldfields of northern Tanzania. During the first half of 2007, 26,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling was completed. This program validated the continuity of a new oxide zone with a strike length of more than 400 metres that lies outside of the known resource areas. This prospective new resource will be drilled as part of the second half $2.9 million, 8,500 metre exploration plan. The current program includes regional exploration testing 7 of 20 new targets and additional detailed metallurgical studies required for a prefeasibility study. The decision to formally undertake the prefeasibility will be made by the end of 2007.

• WCP Resources Ltd is involved in the exploration of prospecting licences that cover three Archaean gold prospects in Tanzania. These consist of Simba Sirori Gold Project located within the southern part of the Musoma greenstone belt and is located 10 kilometres south-southwest of the North Mara Mine (3.3 million oz gold) owned by Barrick Gold Corporation in northern Tanzania; the Magamba and Siga Hills projects, subject to JV with Barrick, located 15 kilometres south of the Nyanzaga property on which Barrick and Sub-Saharan have announced a 4.5 million oz resource; and the Bukoli Project, subject to JV with Iamgold, strategically located at the southeastern end of Iamgold's Buckreef project area (Inferred Resource of 1.93 million oz gold).
  

• Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation (Canadian, Amex:TRE), by mid-2005, held 138 prospecting licenses in the Lake Victoria goldfields, a large number of which are subject to royalty agreements with Barrick Gold, Anglogold-Ashanti and Northern Mining Explorations. The Company's Itetemia property is adjacent to Barrick's 12 million ounce Bulyanhulu gold mine and remains a prime candidate for the discovery of an economic mineral deposit. It has concluded an option agreement for its Luhala and Itetemia Projects with a private United Kingdom based company, Sloane Developments Ltd. Another eleven projects are the subject of royalty agreements with Montreal-based Northern Mining Explorations whose Tulawaka gold project involves a joint venture with a subsidiary of Barrick.

• African Eagle Resources plc has defined a 520,000 ounce gold mineral resource to JORC standard, of which 71% is in the indicated category at the Miyabi gold project in the Lake Victoria Goldfield. African Eagle has begun pre-feasibility studies at Miyabi. On 3 May 2007 the company announced that had entered into a joint venture with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Randgold Resources on its 500 000 oz-plus Miyabi gold project. Under the initial option, Randgold Resources will carry out and fund an agreed phase 1 exploration programme by the end of May 2008.
  This programme will consist principally of a series of diamond drill hole fence lines to investigate the geology, structure and controls on mineralisation, across the width of the Miyabi corridor.
  Randgold Resources will then have the right to earn a 50% interest in the project by conducting and funding a prefeasibility study to agreed parameters.
  Following the prefeasibility study, African Eagle can retain a 49% stake in the project by cofunding a full feasibility study, or dilute to a 35% stake if Randgold Resources provides the funding in full.

• Oryx Mining and Exploration Ltd (former Placer Dome Ltd executives and senior geologists), a private company incorporated in Canada, holds land positions in Uganda and Tanzania. The company is also in discussions with potential joint venture partners in Guinea, Ghana and the DRC.

• Tanzania Gold plc is exploring the Mkurumu gold project in theTanga region.

• Helio Resource Corporation (Canadian, HELOF.PK, HRC.V) is exploring the Saza-Makongolosi area in the Lupa Goldfield in southern Tanzania. The block includes 4 old gold workings. The SMP Gold Project covers approximately 27km of the strike length of the Saza Shear Zone, the main gold-bearing structure in the Lupa Goldfields. Drilling in 2007 included two areas, the Kenge Target and the Kipanga Target.
  

• Kilimanjaro Mining Company Ltd is a Nevada based private company that has acquired over 40 gold licenses in the Lake Victoria Greenstone Belt area of Tanzania and 64 uranium licenses in central and southern Tanzania totaling close to 6 million acres.

• International Gold Mining Limited (TSX VENTURE:IGL) tenements in Northern Tanzania are located within the Tarime district of the Musoma - Mara region in the north - western part of Tanzania, some 100 kilometres east of Lake Victoria, and 20 kilometres south of the Kenyan border. The tenements acquired are located over prospective sequences within the 'Mara Greenstone Belt'. Under the terms of the Bahati Joint Venture Agreement, IGL will pay the Bahati Investment and Mining General Co. Ltd. USD$35,000 and 500,000 fully paid shares in the Company, escrowed for 12 months to earn 51% interest in the tenements. On the second anniversary IGL shall pay the vendor a further USD$45,000 to earn an extra 24% to take the Company's interest to 75%. On the third anniversary, IGL shall pay the vendor USD$50,000 to earn an extra 15% to take its interest in the tenements to 90%. The Company can at its sole discretion pay the vendor, USD$500,000 at any time during the joint venture period to gain control of 100% of the tenements.

• Shanta Gold Limited is conducting initial exploration on projects in the Mgusu, Simba Nguru, and Musoma districts in Tanzania. The company is also involved in four other early exploration stage projects in Tanzania. Results at the Singida project for 2007, indicate a total gold resource in excess of 543,000 oz, of which 330,000 oz have been classified as a measured resource and 127,000 oz as an indicated resource.

• Gulf Resources Limited (ASX: GLF) signed an option agreement in November, 2007, to review the potential of jointly undertaking, with a Tanzanian partner, scoping studies with the aim of developing and financing a gold project in central Tanzania. The project is located in the Handeni and Bagamoyo district in north east Tanzania and covers some 123 km2.

Nickel

Click HERE for an overview (MBendi)

Geology

The Kabanga deposits are hosted in small mafic-ultramafic intrusives that are part of the Meso-Proterozoic Kibaran Orogenic Belt of Central Africa. Mineralization comprises pentlandite, chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite ranging from net textured to massive sulphide. The Luwumbu area contains a number of mafic and ultramafic intrusions in a zone that is at least 160km in length. This area of Southwest Tanzania has the most extensive outcrop of rocks interpreted to form part of the same geological province as the host rocks to the Kabanga nickel deposits in the northwest of the country. The Kabanga nickel deposit was discovered by the United Nations during the 1970s following a comprehensive geochemical and geophysical program that identified a chain of coincident airborne magnetic and geochemical anomalies within a 20-30 kilometre wide northeasterly trending belt that extends for over 200 kilometres from Burundi in the south, through western Tanzania, to Uganda in the north.
The Nachingwea prospect is situated within the Proterozoic age Mozambique Belt to the southeast of the Archean Tanzanian craton and is underlain by a heterogeneous assemblage of mafic to felsic granulites and gneisses, amphibolites, sedimentary rocks and ultramafic to felsic intrusives. All lithologies have been complexly deformed and metamorphosed to amphibolite and granulite grade. Nickel sulphide mineralization is associated with pyroxenitic ultramafic rocks and the sulphides occur as both disseminations and blebs within the intrusions as well as massive remobilized veins. The high nickel grade massive sulphides consist primarily of pyrrhotite and coarse grained pentlandite with subordinate chalcopyrite and minor magnetite.

• In 2005, Falconbridge acquired a 50% indirect interest in the Kabanga nickel project in Tanzania from Barrick, which retains the remainder. Falconbridge is the operator of the joint venture. The project is located in northwestern Tanzania, south of Lake Victoria and near the Burundi and Rwanda borders. The current estimated inferred resource is 26,4 million tonnes grading 2,6% nickel based on estimates released by Barrick (February 2003). Xstrata Nickel, a subisidiary of the London-listed mining firm, said in February, 2007, it would spend $95m completing a prefeasbility study of Kabanga nickel. Xstrata also said Kabanga had an estimated indicated resource of 9,7 million tonnes of nickel grading at 2,37% nickel and a total estimated inferred resource of 36,3 million tonnes grading 2,8% nickel.

• Castillian Resources Corporation has acquired a 100% interest in four properties in the Kagera Belt, Tanzania. The key claims are approximately 10 km northeast of the Kabanga nickel deposits of Xstrata/Barrick. Mapping indicates a 20 km long belt of prospective mafic and ultramafic rocks on trend with the Kabanga deposits.
  

• Albidon Ltd is involved in the the Luwumbu Project, situated in the Livingstone Mountains of southwestern Tanzania, which is owned 90% by Goldstream Mining NL and 10% by Albidon. In June 2003 an agreement was signed whereby Lonmin plc may earn a 70% interest in the project by sole funding a Feasibility Study on an Indicated Mineral Resource. The Songea Project comprises five Prospecting Licences in SW Tanzania covering an area of 4,093 sq km, and is part of the Albidon-BHP Billiton Africa Exploration Cooperation Agreement. Published geological maps indicate that rocks in the Songea Project are similar to those on the Luwumbu Project, along strike to the north, where significant platinum mineralization has been identified.

• Goldstream Mining NL is exploring the Nachingwea Project (Goldstream 100%) which consists of four granted tenements totaling 7,300 square kilometers, located in south eastern Tanzania. Follow up of historic drainage anomalies has located two ultramafic trends. Orientation soil sampling over the ‘Nditi’ pyroxenite returned highly anomalous values of 6,932ppm Cu, 7,760ppm Ni and 1,2g/t PGE. The body appears to extend over 5 by 2 km. The company has announced announced plans to divest its Nachingwea nickel-copper project in a $12 million to $17 million initial public offer on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The ASX listed Goldstream will spin-off its Continental Nickel Ltd subsidiary, but will maintain a 51 per cent stake in the company, as well as a 25 per cent free carry through to the completion of a feasibility study or until CNI incurs a minimum level of expenditure. Continental will also have the right to acquire further nickel projects, with at least $8.6 million in IPO proceeds being committed to proposed exploration of the site. Continental Nickel Ltd is now exploring the Nachingwea Project. The project is 70:30 joint venture between Continental Nickel and Goldstream Mining NL and Continental is the project operator. The land holding comprises 17 granted prospecting licences totalling 3,199 sq km with an additional 25 licence applications totalling 4,814 sq km pending. During the period 2004 to 2006, Goldstream carried out field programs on the Nachingwea property comprising surface sampling, a small VTEM survey, ground geophysics and drilling (17 holes totaling 2,153 m). This work culminated in a significant new greenfields nickel sulphide discovery in June 2006 when drillhole NAD13 intersected 11.23% Ni, 1.74% Cu and 0.15% Co over 3.0m including 15.87% Ni, 2.61% Cu, 0.21% Co, 0.49 g/t Pt and 0.32 g/t Pd over 1.68m. This mineralization was intersected at a vertical depth of 65m at the contact between ultramafic and metasedimentary lithologies. Eleven other holes returned significant (>0.5%) nickel values from the mineralized intercepts over core widths of 0.5 to 23.0 m. Previous work by other companies included mapping, trenching and drilling (6 holes totaling 1,302m) by INCO during the period 1950-1953 and a regional magnetic/radiometric airborne survey and stream/soil sediment sampling by BHP between 1996 and 1998.
  

• Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation holds seven prospecting licenses representing a combined area of4,434 square kilometers within the Kabanga nickel belt.

Oil and Natural Gas

Click HERE for an overview

• Natural gas proved reserves: 22.65 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

History

Tanzania has been intermittently explored over the last 50 years with most multinational petroleum companies being present, at one time or another. So far only 35 exploration and development wells have been drilled in 280,000 square kilometres of hydrocarbon potential sedimentary basins. Since 1980, foreign oil prospectors have invested more than $293 million searching for oil in Tanzania without success. The government in Dar es Salaam continues to encourage oil exploration in the country, through the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), seeing oil as a key to economic development. Experts have long suspected that there are considerable hydrocarbon reserves off Tanzania's coast.

• A second licensing round, since 2000, covering deepwater acreage to the north of Dar es Salaam was concluded in August 2002, calling for bids on 12 blocks. Bids were received from only two companies, Shell and Global Resources, both interested in blocks 9-12. In October 2002, exploration rights were granted to Shell for all four blocks. Shell conducted 2D seismic surveys of the areas, and will use the results to conduct 3D seismic surveys. Royal Dutch/Shell hoped to begin exploration in 2004 on its four deep-water blocks.

• Artumas Group Inc operates the Mnazi Bay Concession. The Mnazi Bay exploration and production concession covers a 756 sq. km area in south eastern Tanzania, bordering Mozambique to the south and lying along the north eastern flank of the Rovuma River. In 1981, AGIP (now ENI) drilled a shallow water, off-shore well and discovered the Mnazi Bay Gas Field. However, due to a lack of a commercial gas market at the time, AGIP capped the well, leaving the wellbore integrity intact, and relinquished the concession. In 2004, Artumas acquired the rights to the Mnazi Bay concession. With no signature bonus requirement, the Company committed to provide a gas-to-power energy solution for the Mtwara/Lindi region to replace their existing unreliable, aging system. This has become known as the Mtwara Energy Project. New seismic data and interpretation indicates the Mnazi Bay Gas Field to be more than double the size of original estimates, covering some 75 square kilometers in aerial extent versus the original estimate of 34 square kilometres.

Source: Artumas Group Inc

• Tullow Oil plc has agreed a farm-in deal with Ndovu Resources Limited, a subsidiary of Aminex plc, which involves the company earning a 50% interest in two licences in the Tanzanian portion of the Ruvuma Basin. Tullow will be appointed Operator upon completion of the farm-in commitment and will provide technical support during the seismic acquisition programme. The farm-in deal and subsequent change of operatorship are subject to formal approval from the Tanzanian government. The acreage involved lies approximately 500 km south of Dar es Salaam, along the Mozambique border and comprises the Mtwara and Lindi licences which cover a total area of 12,361 sq km. The licences are adjacent to the Mnazi Bay gas field, discovered in the 1980's and currently under development. The area was last explored in the 1980's and prior to recent activity less than 1,400 km of 2D seismic had been recorded. Numerous leads have been identified by previous operators from this data, many with significant potential. Initial targets will be Tertiary and Cretaceous reservoirs. Oil seeps are known in the area.
  

Source: Tullow Oil

• Aminex plc is exploring the Nyuni and Ruvuma licence areas. The Nyuni-1 well was drilled to nearly 4,000 metres during 2003/4 and encountered numerous oil and gas shows in a thick but complex reservoir sequence. The well did not flow commercial quantities of oil and gas under limited test but established the presence of live crude oil from a wide-ranging Jurassic source, opening up the prospectivity of the whole region.
  In the period 2005-7 new marine 2D seismic and transition zone 2D seismic was acquired over the Nyuni licence.
  In 2007 Aminex farmed out interests to Key Petroleum Ltd. (20%) and to RAK Gas Commission (25%). In addition East Africa Exploration Ltd. earned a 10% interest through contributing new seismic valued at $2 million. An earlier provisional farm-out to East Coast Energy Ltd. was never finalised.
  In April 2006 Aminex signed a contract with Caroil of France for the use of the Caroil-6 drilling rig to drill two wells on the Nyuni licence. Mechanical delays with this rig have delayed first spud date until Q4 2007.
  In late 2005, Aminex finalised a PSA for the Ruvuma onshore/offshore area in South Tanzania covering 12,000 sq km. Before end 2005 Aminex had acquired 500km of new seismic in the offshore part of the licence.
  Onshore seismic is being acquired over Ruvuma during 2007 and a first well location selected with planned drilling in 2008.
  

Source: Aminex plc

• Bounty Oil & Gas NL has a 10% share (Aminex-60%, Petrom SA, the state oil company of Romania-30%) of the Nyuni Block of 2860 km2, located just off the coast of Tanzania, 200 kms south of Dar es Salaam. Adjacent to the permit is the Songo Songo gas field, which contains 590 Bcf (proved and probable) of recoverable gas. The proven reserves are contracted to the Ubungo Power Plant. A 12-inch diameter pipeline capable of transporting 105 mmcfgd (uncompressed) from the field to shore has been completed and a 16-inch 120 mmcfgd pipeline up to Dar-Es-Salaam is under construction and due for completion in May 2004.

• In May 2005, the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) offered Ophir Energy (U.K.) , Statoil ( Norway ) and Petrobras ( Brazil ) production sharing agreements (PSAs). In October 2005, Ophir Energy signed the PSA for Block One, while Statoil and Petrobras are still negotiating contracts for their PSAs.
  

• In 2004, TPDC signed with Petrobras for deepwater Block Five, off Mafia Island and with Maurel & Prom (France) for acreage along the coast.
  

• Shell has yet to finalize an agreement for Blocks 9 - 12 near Zanzibar and Pemba Islands, which it won over two years ago.
  

• Dodsal Hydrocarbons and Power (Tanzania) Pvt. Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Dodsal Resources) signed a Production Sharing Agreement with Ministry of Energy and Minerals and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation for exploration of oil and gas for the RUVU block which is approximately 15,300 square Kilometers.
  

• Discussions are ongoing between government and Petrobras of Brazil for oil and gas exploration in the deep waters of Block No 8 and Tullow Oil of UK for exploration in Northern Lake Tanganyika.

Uranium

History
The uranium potential of Tanzania was established by government surveys in the late seventies. Follow-up work on some of the numerous anomalies generated, led to the discovery of two deposits of ‘roll-front’ style mineralisation in Karoo sediments. These deposits are now largely contained within the Selous Game Reserve. There has been little to no exploration for uranium in Tanzania since the early eighties.

• Douglas Lake Minerals Inc. announced it has successfully acquired four Tanzanian uranium properties that cover an area of approximately 500 square kilometres. Two of the properties are located in Northern Tanzania in the Babati region. Initial reports provided by DLKM's geological consultants, Geosource Explorer, have determined that these two deposits are 'surficial'. The other two properties are located in the Njombe District in southern Tanzania. Initial reports by Geosource Explorer indicate the southern deposit geology is similar to that of the Rössing Deposit in Namibia.

• Goldstream Mining NL. Four new tenements covering a total area of 1,885km2 have been offered to Goldstream by the Tanzanian Ministry of Energy and Minerals. Historic drill intercept of up to 2,3 kg/t U308 in a ‘calcrete’ environment, occur on the company’s Bahi tenements in Central Tanzania. Drainage geochemical surveys conducted by Goldstream over its tenements in Southern Tanzania have identified anomalous coincident uranium and lead anomalies.

• Uranium Resources plc (AIM:URA) has acquired four uranium prospecting licences, covering an area of approximately 2,500 km2. The area has promising geology with the German company Uranerzbergbau GmbH identifying the area as prospective for uranium during reconnaissance exploration between 1978 and 1982. Three of the licences are located in the Mkuju River area in southern Tanzania, an area recognised by Uranerz as one of the two most important uranium targets in Tanzania. The fourth licence, the Makutapora prospect in Central Tanzania, targets uranium in calcrete. Western Metals Limited has entered into a farm-in agreement with Uranium Resources.

• Uranium Hunter Corporation has an agreement with Trimark Explorations, on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary Gambaro Resources, to earn up to a 100% interest in a gold/uranium property located in Njombe and Songea Districts, Tanzania.

• International Gold Mining Limited (TSX VENTURE:IGL) has joint ventured into two tenements at Bahi Swamp, consisting of one granted prospecting licence, and one application, totalling 1,821 square kilometres of ground. The Bahi Swamp catchment area is a dry lake covering over 1,000 sq km, and incorporates an extensive closed drainage system that has developed over 27,000 sq km of weathered Archaean granites.
  Uranium accumulation within the Bahi catchment system has been recognised since the 1950's when uranium mineralisation was first intersected in a drill hole located near the centre of Bahi Swamp. Recent positive exploration results announced by Uranex NL from the Bahi 'C1' prospect have reconfirmed the potential of the Bahi Swamp catchment area to host significant calcrete / playa, as well as roll front style uranium deposits. The two tenements abut the western boundary of Uranex NL (UNX-ASX) project with assays from vertical channel samples reported to include 1.5m @ 2.4kg/t U3O8, 2.75m @ 1.33kg/t U3O8, and 2.0m @ 1.4kg/t U3O8.
  The Company has also entered into a joint venture over a granted prospecting licence covering an area of 43 sq km at Singida, considered prospective for gold, uranium and diamonds.

• Western Metals Limited (ASX: WMT) is drilling the Mtonya Project, with high grade uranium over a strike length of 4 km and announced the discovery of two new uranium prospects within its Tanzania exploration area.
  Surveys from the regional helicopter supported field reconnaissance programme carried out in November 2007, has resulted in the discovery of two new important mineralized systems, Foxy and Eland, in the Ruvuma project area. The prospects are located approximately 60 km south-east and 110 km south-west of Mtonya respectively.
  Foxy Prospect - mineralisation at Foxy is related to a hematised sandstone bed exposed over an area of approximately 0.5km2. Counts up to 20,000 counts per second (cps) were found in association with the abundant yellow secondary uranium mineral, uranophane. A grab sample taken from the eastern edge of the anomaly returned an assay result of 13,400 parts per million (ppm) U3O8.
  Eland Prospect - mineralisation is associated with a banded, leuco gneiss. WMT geologists located an anomalous area of approximately 0.6km2 with hotspots up of up to 4,000cps. Grab samples collected from the area returned assay results of 141ppm U3O8, 440ppm U3O8 and 1,080ppm U3O8.
  The discovery of a new type of uranium mineralisation in basement rock in SW Tanzania is extremely encouraging. The potential presence of this type of mineralisation opens up a number of possibilities and warrants the re-evaluation of a number of highly significant airborne radiometric anomalies that were previously downgraded and dismissed as anomalous basement.

• Atomic Minerals Ltd has signed a letter of intent with Geo Can Resources Company Ltd. to acquire up to a 90% interest in over 2800 sq. kilometers of potential uranium enrichment in southwestern Tanzania. It is located in the same region as properties held by Paladin Resources (Malawi), Denison Mines and Western Metals.