The Mining Act of Tanzania Has Been Amended

THE MINING ACT OF TANZANIA HAS BEEN AMENDED The Mining Act was recently amended by the Act of Parliament through the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendment) (No. 3) Act of 2022 dated 2 nd December 2022, whereas among other things it covers the following; Introduction of primary processing license. The Minister for Minerals is now vested with the mandate to revert the vacated mine area to the Government within four (4) months from the date of cessation of a mineral right. The reverted mine area shall be held by the Treasury Registrar on behalf of the Government accompanied with a certificate of revisionary mineral rights. The term revisionary mineral rights is defined to mean all mineral rights which revert to the Government upon cessation by operation of law and includes prospecting license, retention license, mining license or special mining license.

A prospecting license may be renewed for the second term to a duration not exceeding two years. When a prospecting licence is no longer renewable, the prospecting area shall be revert to the Government and it may invite applications through a tender. All primary mining license holders are required to commence mining operations within a period of six (6) months, or such other period as may be determined by the licensing authority. All ball mill operations or sluicing shall be operated through a primary processing license. Breach of any matter related to local content shall be penalized to a fine not exceeding ten (10) billion- or three-years’ imprisonment or both. Every person who commits any breach to the Mining Act and its Regulations, where no penalty provided for, shall be liable to a fine of TZS 150 million or two (2) years imprisonment or both.

Disclaimer The views expressed in this paper are those of the author only and should not be considered as an official interpretation, defamatory or interference of any legislation, laws or policies of any country including Tanzania. The contents of this paper should not under any circumstances be reproduced or used without our express written consent. It should not be considered as a legal advice to any of its recipient(s) and should not be relied upon without obtaining further legal advice. We accept no liability for any loss occasioned or suffered due to the contents of this paper.