Since the early 1990s, the use of modern technology and refined models has seen gold exploration in Tanzania grow rapidly, in turn transforming the country into one of the fastest-emerging gold producers in Africa, behind only South Africa and Ghana. Yet despite the relatively recent expansion of the sector, the presence of gold beneath Tanzania has been known about since it was first discovered in the Geita region in the late 1800s.
Today, the region is home to the Geita gold deposit, located 20 kilometres south east of Nungwe Bay on Lake Victoria, at an elevation of approximately 1200 meters above sea level. Geita Gold Mine (GGM) commenced production in 2000, initially as a joint venture between South Africa’s AngloGold Ltd and Ghana’s Ashanti before the two companies merged in 2004.
An open cast mine with three pits, GGM has been the recipient of approximately US$600 million in investment from AngloGold Ashanti since 2000, while the mine has paid some US$683 million in direct contributions to the Tanzanian government through taxes and royalties in the same time period.
“AngloGold Ashanti is immensely proud that Geita Gold Mine is currently Tanzania’s most productive mine,” states Managing Director, Michael Van Anen. “Four years ago, GGM underwent a focussed turnaround and in 2012 became AngloGold Ashanti’s largest production centre and cash generator. Presently, Geita produces about one third of the total ounces of gold from our African production, excluding South Africa, and is one of our largest mines in Africa. It therefore goes without saying that we are very proud of our investment at Geita and in Tanzania.”
In making its ambitions in the country a reality, the company has worked tirelessly to ensure that it maintains productive and fruitful relations with all of its stakeholders in Tanzania. Part of this work has involved helping to strengthen the capacity of all stakeholders involved and interested in extractive industries to build a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by the extractive sector for Tanzania’s long-term development.
Despite the obvious success that the company has had with GGM, it continues to push this further forward and at present has three key growth projects that it is continuing to explore, these involving underground extensions, surface extensions to already open pits and a refractory ore project.
“Each of the above projects is designed to build upon GGM’s current strong performance and invest in its future as a mine,” Van Anen continues. “Geita is an important mine for AngloGold Ashanti, Tanzania and the local Geita community and as such we will work to ensure that remains the case for a long time to come. In Tanzania, we have successfully turned around the business over the last three years, with a 30 percent improvement in productivity and throughput improvements that had provided us with a more robust margin.”
In addition to these projects, the company also has exploration tenements surrounding its Special Mining License at Geita. This means that should an appropriate opportunity with sufficient economic potential be identified in the future, AngloGold Ashanti has the option to apply for a separate license to mine and realise the potential of said opportunities.
AngloGold Ashanti is committed to fulfilling its obligations and duties as a responsible corporate citizen across the entirety of its operations, and its belief in the importance of the concept of sustainability clearly extends through to its activities at GGM.
It was as recently as August 2013 that GGM was named the winner of eight awards from the Tanzanian Presidential Award on the Extractive Industry Corporate Social Responsibility and Empowerment Programme (CSRE) for its commitment to community investments. These awards were bestowed on the company as recognition of its health, education, procurement, and water programmes for its host communities in Tanzania.
As GGM continues to gain ground in its own right, so too are many of AngloGold Ashanti’s current community empowerment projects. These include the Geita Town Water Project Implementation, which has seen the company invest US$4.9 million towards the implementation of a water supply system in partnership with the Tanzanian government. The establishing of a clean water supply will ultimately benefit some 130,000 residents located around Geita.
Another US$5 million investment from GGM has gone into the construction of the Nyankumbu Girls Secondary School, the final stage of which began in July 2013. This stage includes the construction of the remaining batch of teachers’ housing, school fence, sports fields and purchase of laboratory equipment. The overall project is expected to be completed by December 2013, after which more than 900 girls will have access to a science-focused boarding school, the only one of its kind in the Geita region.
Meanwhile, a joint venture with the Geita local government authority, and other parties, has successfully implemented an integrated malaria control program in Geita. The Geita Malaria Prevention program, which covers approximately 19 villages annually, focuses on carrying out indoor residual spraying within the community and was responsible for offering this prevention to more than 90 percent of the target population. Furthermore, from an environmental perspective, GGM is understandably proud to have maintained ISO 14001 certification, which will remain valid until June 2016.
“In addition to the work we carry out on behalf of local communities,” Van Anen highlights, “we are also a significant taxpayer in Tanzania, making US$213.8 in tax payments last year alone. This represents the second highest tax contribution across our global portfolio, and second only to South Africa where we have a much larger operating base. In addition to our tax remittances in Tanzania last year, AngloGold Ashanti provided a direct income and benefits to about 3,600 people and thousands more indirectly, and invested US$4.8 million in community development projects. We believe we contribute a great deal towards national development goals through our direct contribution to government and through our community investments.”
As Van Anen goes on to conclude, AngloGold Ashanti is committed to building on this success by continuing to explore efficiencies and further opportunities to ensure that Geita’s future remains bright. “Crucial to our success going forward will, of course, be the support of our host communities. GGM is currently rolling out an enhanced engagement strategy, involving the surrounding communities and creating awareness of our mining processes and activities. We believe this will enhance public knowledge and understanding of the industry and strengthen the all so important stakeholder relationships which currently exist.”
Written by Will Daynes, research by Candice Nice
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