NO mining licences (MLs) or special mining licences (SMLs) for any kind of minerals will be issued to any investor who doesn’t have a strategic plan for adding value to the minerals extracted.

Anthony Mavunde, the docket minister, stated this position when tabling the Minerals budget estimates for fiscal 2024/25 yesterday in the National Assembly, tuned at 231.98bn/-.

He said that current and incoming investors in the minerals sector are supposed to develop a strategic plan that identifies facilities to be set up for value addition of precious metals and stones before export.

“The main purpose of this decision is to make the nation benefits appropriately from the mineral resources,” he asserted, noting that the government has also picked a zone for minerals value addition instead of relying on investors’ decisions, where the selected site is the Buzwagi Special Economic Zone, stretching over 1,333 acres in Kahama District, Shinyanga Region.

Minerals value addition plants in the special economic zone will feature a multi-metals processing facility, steel balls manufacturing, mineral ore conveyor belts, solar farms and a portable water plant, he said.

During the 2024/25 financial year the government will impose a condition for issuance of primary mining licenses seeking to sell their license to other investors to observe right of first refusal for small scale miners who feature in the operating license, to buy the mine or enter an investment agreement, he further indicated.

From July 2023 to March 2024 a total of 187bn/- was disbursed in soft loans to small scale miners, from 145bn/- disbursed in the corresponding period in 2022, he said, while the mining sector created 19,356 jobs up to March 2024, with just 505 jobs going to foreign recruits.

Regulatory authorities will ensure that investors abide by corporate social responsibility (CSR) accords in the mining sector, for the benefit of the host communities, he said, pointing out that from July 2023 to March 2024 a total of 17.08bn/- was injected in CSR projects by mining sector investors.

Host communities benefiting are those near Tembo Nickel, Geita Gold, Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, North Mara Gold Mine, Williamson Diamonds, Shanta Mining Co., Dangote Cement, Uranex (T), Ruvuma Coal and Buckreef Gold Co., he said.

Minerals selling centres rose to 42 during fiscal 2023/24, with one addition to the 2020/21 number, mineral auctioning centres reached 100 from 61 earlier, with minerals valued at 2.09bn/- were traded.

The ministry trained 10,213 small scale miners on safety, health and environmental conservation methods, he added.