The production of coal in Tanzania has largely been underdeveloped for many years. Tanzania has an estimated 1.5 billion tonnes of reserves and is believed to have the largest reserves of coal in East Africa. [1] In 2015, Tanzania produced in excess of 250,000 tonnes of coal, of which 94% of it was consumed domestically. [2]
The majority of the coal reserves in Tanzania exist along the Songea Karoo belt in Southern Tanzania. Coal fields exist in three regions of the country in Rukwa, Mbeya and the largest in Njombe. [3]
The country has total coal reserves of around 1.9bn tonnes with 0.4 billion tonnes of proven reserves. With recent geological exploration, the authorities believe there is a potential of 5 billion tonnes of potential reserves. [4]
The largest reserves are currently found in Mchuchuma, where there are reserves of over 400 million tonnes. [5]
Currently there are only two small scale operations that are extracting coal.
The Kiwira coal mine is a small coal mine operational in the new region of Songwe with an annual installed capacity of 150,000 tonnes. [6] The Kiwira Coal & Power Company owns the licence to mine at the Ivogo Ridge. The company is wholly owned by the State Mining Corporation that is 100% owned by the Government of Tanzania. [7]
The Ngaka coal mine in Ruvuma Region is operated under the banner of Tancoal Energy which is a joint venture between Intra Energy Tanzania limited and the state owned National Development Corporation (NDC). The Ngaka coal mine is currently the largest operational mine in the country and is selling an upwards of 250,000 tonnes of unwashed coal annually. [8] There have reports about health impact of coal mining to neighbouring residents in Ruanda Ward. [9]
There has been misinformation about coal in Tanzania on social media that claims there is an increase demand of Tanzania coal green energy policies in Europe. [10]
Tanzania has exported coal to different countries including China, Kenya, Netherlands, India, Senegal, Egypt, Europe, Amsterdam, Ghana and Ivory Coast. [11]
The economy of Tanzania is a lower-middle income economy that is overwhelmingly dependent on agriculture. Tanzania's economy has been transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy since 1985. Although total GDP has increased since these reforms began, GDP per capita dropped sharply at first, and only exceeded the pre-transition figure in around 2007.
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine is called a "pit", and above-ground mining structures are referred to as a "pit head". In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.
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Mining in Australia has long been a significant primary sector industry and contributor to the Australian economy by providing export income, royalty payments and employment. Historically, mining booms have also encouraged population growth via immigration to Australia, particularly the gold rushes of the 1850s. Many different ores, gems and minerals have been mined in the past and a wide variety are still mined throughout the country.
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The mineral industry of Russia is one of the world's leading mineral industries and accounts for a large percentage of the Commonwealth of Independent States' production of a range of mineral products, including metals, industrial minerals, and mineral fuels. In 2005, Russia ranked among the leading world producers or was a significant producer of a vast range of mineral commodities, including aluminum, arsenic, cement, copper, magnesium compounds and metals, nitrogen, palladium, silicon, nickel and vanadium.
The second-largest mineral industry in the world is the mineral industry of Africa, which implies large quantities of resources due to Africa being the second largest continent, with 30.37 million square kilometres of land.With a population of 1.4 billion living there, mineral exploration and production constitute significant parts of their economies for many African countries and remain keys to economic growth. Africa is richly endowed with mineral reserves and ranks first in quantity of world reserves for bauxite, cobalt, industrial diamond, phosphate rock, platinum-group metals (PGM), vermiculite, and zirconium.
The mineral industry of Mozambique plays a significant role in the world's production of aluminium, beryllium, and tantalum. In 2006, Mozambique's share of the world's tantalum mine output amounted to 6%; beryllium, 5%; and aluminium, 2%. Other domestically significant mineral processing operations included cement and natural gas.
Coal in India has been mined since 1774, and India is the second largest producer and consumer of coal after China, mining 777.31 million metric tons in FY 2022. Around 30% of coal is imported. Due to demand, supply mismatch and poor quality with high ash content, India imports coking coal to meet the shortage of domestic supply. Dhanbad, the largest coal producing city, has been called the coal capital of India. State-owned Coal India had a monopoly on coal mining between its nationalisation in 1973 and 2018.
Mining in New Zealand began when the Māori quarried rock such as argillite in times prior to European colonisation. Mining by Europeans began in the latter half of the 19th century.
The mineral mining industry is a crucial piece of the Economy of Niger. Exports of minerals consistently account for 40% of exports.
Resources are classified as either biotic or abiotic on the basis of their origin. India contains a multitude of both types of resource and its economy, especially in rural areas, is heavily dependent on their consumption or export. Due to overconsumption, they are rapidly being depleted.
Mining in the United Kingdom produces a wide variety of fossil fuels, metals, and industrial minerals due to its complex geology. In 2013, there were over 2,000 active mines, quarries, and offshore drilling sites on the continental land mass of the United Kingdom producing £34bn of minerals and employing 36,000 people.
Coal mining has historically been an important industry in Ukraine. Coal mining in Ukraine is often associated with coal-rich Donets basin. However this is not the only coal mining region, other being Lviv-Volhynian basin and Dnieper brown coal mining basin. The Donets basin located in the eastern Ukraine is the most developed and much bigger coal mining region in the country.
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Mining is important to the national economy of Mongolia. Mongolia is one of the 29 resource-rich developing countries identified by the International Monetary Fund and exploration of copper and coal deposits are generating substantial additional revenue.
Mining in North Korea is important to the country's economy. North Korea is naturally abundant in metals such as magnesite, zinc, tungsten, and iron; with magnesite resources of 6 billion tonnes, particularly in the North and South Hamgyong Province and Chagang Province. However, often these cannot be mined due to the acute shortage of electricity in the country, as well as the lack of proper tools to mine these materials and an antiquated industrial base. Coal, iron ore, limestone, and magnesite deposits are larger than other mineral commodities. Mining joint ventures with other countries include China, Canada, Egypt, and South Korea.
The Mtwara Development Project is a major infrastructure development project involving southern Tanzania, northern Mozambique, eastern Malawi and Eastern Zambia. The goal of this project is to provide road, rail and waterway access from the surrounding region to the Port of Mtwara. The region and the corridor has been neglected by the respective governments for over 40 years and the recent discovery of oil, gas and various minerals has kick started the development of the project. A road and rail link is to be built from the port of Mtwara to Mbamba Bay on Lake Nyasa to link Malawi to the corridor and further road links into Mozambique will facilitate access to northern Mozambique.