Minerals: It’s D-day on shady deals

THE second report on the export of mineral concentrates, to be unveiled today, could put an end to a running saga and raises hopes that the authors could finally tell us how the mining sector could meaningfully contribute to this country’s coffers.

The much-awaited final report has been compiled by the second Presidential committee led by Prof. Nehemiah Osoro, which was formed to probe the economic and legal issues related to export of gold and copper concentrates.

The committee was formed along with another led by Prof Abdulkarim Mruma, soon after President John Magufuli made an impromptu visit to the Dar es Salaam port in March this year.

Upon his visit, the president banned the export of mineral sand and ordered intensive investigations on hundreds of containers then laden with the concentrates, and ready for export.

The first committee has since handed over in its findings to the president, revealing massive thievery on the minerals through under-hand declarations of copper and gold concentrates then due for export.

The Mruma-led committee reported that it had recorded an average of 1,400g of gold per ton of mineral sand in the containers; this contradicted sharply with the records from the Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency (TMAA) which indicated a paltry 200g from a ton of mineral sands.

The committee also reported disparities in copper and silver ratios, and that there wasn’t any royalty paid for other compounds like iron, sulphur, rhodium, iridium and lithium despite their being smelted from the concentrate.

These findings forced the president to sack then Minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo, along with top officials of the Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency (TMAA), and also directed the security organs to investigate the officials’ wealth.

Tanzania’s leading gold miner, Acacia Mining, immediately reacted that it declares everything it mines in the country, and that it was waiting for the second report before it could possibly ‘engage’ the government.

Today, Dr Magufuli will be receiving the second report at State House, an event which will be broadcast live on local television.

Ahead of the today’s event, stakeholders yesterday described the second report as a ‘solution seeker’ for the problems in the mining sector, expressing hope that it provides ‘conclusive answer’ to the reality on the ground over hitherto ‘shady’ mineral sand exports.

The chairman of the parliamentary committee on Energy and Minerals, Doto Biteko, told the ‘Daily News’ that Tanzanians need to wait for the report which would tell them what to do as a nation.

“The good thing is that the president has started this well … by seeking advice from the experts. The second report will give us the way forward,” he commented.

The national coordinator of the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC), Mr Onesmo Olengurumwa, argued that since the report based on legal issues in the mining sector, the expectation was that the probe team would come up with remedy to address legal weaknesses within the sector.

“It’s my hope that the second report will give us directions on how to move from bad contracts that have been costing us,” he said.