The Deputy Minister responsible for mining in Ministry of Energy and Mining  Charles Kitwanga  said following the arrival of heavy machinery. Uranium mining is scheduled to commence in April next year.

 

Kitwanga said at full operation, the Mkuju River Project would employ 1,600 people. This would be a blessing to the unemployed youth in Southern Tanzania.

 

Mkuju River Uranium Project is located at Namtumbo District, Ruvuma region about 470 km southwest of Dar es Salaam. 

 

During the life of the mine, the Mkuju River project anticipates $1billion of foreign investment and generate about $630 million to direct and indirect cash flows.

 

The Mkuju River project is an in situ recovery uranium project about 470 kilometres southwest of Dar es Salaam. It holds 139,600 tonnes of measured and indicated resources.

 

The project is owned by Mantra Tanzania Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mantra Resources Pty Ltd. (formerly Mantra Resources Ltd.), an Australian registered corporation in which Uranium One has a minority interest. 

 

The remaining shares in this company are owned by Uranium One Holding N.V.Uranium One is the operator.

 

At its 36th session in St. Petersburg from June 24 to July 6, 2012, the Unesco World Heritage Committee approved an application by the Tanzanian government for a minor adjustment to the boundary of the Selous Game Reserve.

 

Unesco World Heritage Committee required Tanzania removing the Mkuju River Project and an adjacent buffer zone from the Selous Game Reserve World Heritage Site.

 

Tanzanian allowed uranium mining inside the famous Selous Game Reserve after the United Nations World Heritage Committee approved an application by the Tanzanian government to alter the boundaries of the reserve in order to pave the way for uranium mining.

 

The government set out an area covering 350 kilometers within the Selous Game Reserve in the southern Tanzania tourist circuit for extraction of uranium.

 

In the process to extract this radioactive mineral in the area, the minister for Tourism and Natural Resources Mr. Lazaro Nyalandu signed an MoU between Tanzania’s Wildlife Division and Mantra Tanzania Limited.

 

The MoU said Mantra Tanzania would cooperate and support the Wildlife Division in the Ministry of Tourism to combat poaching in the southern parts of the Selous.

 

Mantra Tanzania Limited had to invest $800,000 and carry out anti-poaching activities in the area.

 

The mine will produce 60 million tons of radioactive and poisonous waste during its 10-year lifespan and up to 139 million tons of uranium if a projected extension of the mine is implemented.

 

Covering over 50,000 square kilometers, the Selous is one of the largest protected wildlife reserves in the world and one of Africa’s last great wilderness areas.

 

The park in southern Tanzania has large numbers of elephants, black rhinos, cheetahs, giraffes, hippos, and crocodiles, and is relatively undisturbed by humans.

Source : busiweek.com