Stakeholders to discuss Tanzanian uranium mining

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 17 November 2011 - A wide range of stakeholders in the mining sector are expected to gather in the Tanzanian capital  today to deliberate the development of uranium mining in Tanzania.

The Institute of Engineering of Tanzania (IET), through its division of mining and metallurgy, is organising the one-day meeting. IET executive secretary Swaleh Kassera said in a statement here that there would be various presentations by experts in the uranium sector.

The presenters will include representatives of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (NECSA) and the Tanzania Investment Centre. Others will come from the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC), the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, the National Environmental Management Council (NEMC), Mantra Tanzania Limited and Uranex.

The workshop comes at a time when Mantra Tanzania is seeking a licence to start mining uranium at the Mkuju river area in Ruvuma region in Southern Tanzania, and Uranex is making good progress with its exploration in Ruvuma.

Mantra Tanzania has already completed environmental and social impact assessments and submitted them to the NEMC and other government bodies.

“We have invited a team of experts in the sector to help give a technical assessment on uranium mining late next year,” Kassera said, noting that the invitees include government agencies, parastatals, NGO’s, religious leaders and the media.

The definitive feasibility study completed early this year showed that the Mkuju river project alone would produce 1,900tpa of uranium annually, placing Tanzania in third position for uranium production in Africa after Namibia and Niger.

MiningReview
17 November 2011