Regulatory Changes In Tanzania's Mining Sector

In February 2019 a series of changes were made to Tanzanian mining laws and regulations. These changes were as follows:

1. Changes to the Mining Act 2010

   Parliament passed the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.2) Bill of 2019 (the Mining Act Amendment Bill) on 9 February 2019 and we understand that it is currently awaiting the President's assent. When the Mining Act Amendment Bill receives this assent, a number of changes will be made to the provisions of the Mining Act 2010 (the Mining Act).

2. Changes to mining-related regulations

   Tanzania's Minister of Minerals has the power to create regulations under different Acts of Parliament, such as under the Mining Act and the Tanzania Extractive Industries (Transparency and Accountability) Act 2015 (the TEITI Act). Pursuant to this power, the Minister has created the following new regulations under the Mining Act and the TEITI Act:

   GN 135 of 2019 - Mining (Mererani Controlled Area) Regulations; GN 136 of 2019 - Mining (Mineral Beneficiation) Regulations; GN 137 of 2019 - Mining (Diamond Trading) Regulations; GN 138 of 2019 - Mining (Minerals and Mineral Concentrates Trading) (Amendment) Regulations; GN 139 of 2019 - Mining (Local Content) Regulations (the New Local Content Regulations); and GN 141 of 2019 - Tanzania Extractive Industries (Transparency and Accountability) Regulations. In this briefing, we outline the highlights of the Mining Act Amendment Bill. We will also briefly discuss the New Local Content Regulations.

   Highlights of the Mining Act Amendment Bill

   Additional requirement to obtain consent from the licensing authority Restriction on import permit holders possessing and disposing of minerals and provision of minimum fines / an imprisonment term for contravention Exceptions to the buying and selling of minerals at Mineral and Gem Houses Requirement for broker licence applicants to specify the buying stations from which they intend to buy minerals Requirement to obtain a mineral import permit in order to import minerals Alteration to duration of mineral import permits and payment of prescribed fees Introduction of specific conditions when importing diamonds Mineral ores or tailings owned by small scale miners now to be a trading commodity in Tanzania The table below compares the current provisions of the Mining Act against what is being proposed by the Mining Act Amendment Bill.

   The Mining Act - as it currently stands

   The Mining Act Amendment Bill - as is being proposed...