Copper smelting not commercially viable in Tanzania
Copper concentrates from Tanzanian gold mines will continue being exported because there is not a sufficient quantity to warrant the establishment of a smelter in the country, the chief executive officer of the Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency (TMAA) Paul Masanja told delegates at a recent meeting of the parliamentary committee on energy and minerals in Dar es Salaam.
Masanja was responding to questions relating to why Tanzania still exported its copper concentrates. He explained that a commercially viable copper smelter would require 150,000 tonnes of copper per year while Tanzania’s two main gold mines, Buzwagi and Bulyanhulu, produce between 35,000 tonnes and 60,000 tonnes annually between them; in other words 23-40 per cent of the amount required.
He also pointed out that the absence of a reliable power supply rules out investment in a copper concentrate smelter which needs high quality intensive power supply. Establishing a smelting plant would cost about $500 million, more than three times the cost of setting up a gold mine like Buzwagi which costs around $150 million.
Buzwagi and Bulyanhulu gold mines are located about 100 km apart in the Shinyanga region of central Tanzania. The government receives royalties from Tanzanian copper smelted outside the country.
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