Tanzania Seals Strategic Minerals Deal
MBEYA —
THE government has signed a package of agreements with Panda Hill Tanzania Limited, a US -owned company, to accelerate the production and processing of strategic minerals in the country.
The deal is built around niobium, a strategic metal used to strengthen steel and produce high performance alloys for major infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.
Located in Mbeya Region, the project is set to position the region as a key hub for the production and processing of strategic minerals as well triggering high value trade and industrialisation push.
The deal will also position Tanzania as a supplier of value-added strategic metals into premium industrial supply chains.
Minister for Minerals Anthony Mavunde said yesterday that sealing this latest deal has seen Tanzania taking a major step toward strengthening trade ties with the US.
Mavunde said niobium's applications extend into high-end industries, including components associated with electric vehicles and aerospace, reinforcing the project's significance beyond traditional mining exports.
The minister said the milestone demonstrates a deliberate policy direction that Tanzania should not only host extraction but also secure ownership participation and visible development outcomes from its resources.
He linked the project to the national development agenda and said President Samia Suluhu Hassan has directed that Tanzania's minerals should increasingly be value-added domestically, aligning with the country's long-term development trajectory. He framed Panda Hill as a rare-asset project in a global market dominated by a handful of producers.
Mr Mavunde said the largest producer in Brazil supplies about 80 per cent of global niobium demand, a second major producer, also in Brazil accounts for about 11 per cent, while Canada contributes around 6 per cent.
With Panda Hill, he said, Tanzania is positioned to become a fourth major producer, supplying about 4 per cent of the world market, with planned production of roughly 100,000 tonnes per year.
The United States trade angle was emphasised as a central pillar of the project's significance.
Officials said the value-addition model, mining combined with on-site processing and smelting, creates a platform for higher-value exports destined for global industrial markets including the United States, strengthening Tanzania's profile as a reliable trade partner in advanced materials rather than a raw commodity exporter.
Panda Hill Tanzania Limited's General Manager, Mr Dennis Cook said the agreements close a long chapter of engagement and reposition the project back on a clear implementation track.
He noted that the project was close to construction in 2017 before changes in mining laws prompted a pause, and said the company has since worked closely with the government to conclude the new framework.
Mr Cook said the company will now move to secure a Special Mining Licence and update key project workstreams to reflect current conditions, including refreshed capital and operating cost estimates, integration of grid electricity into the operating model, and updated marketing work for ferroniobium as it gears toward execution.
He said Panda Hill is focused on implementation that benefits the country and investors.
Panda Hill Tanzania Limited is backed by Denham Capital, which is an energy and resources private equity firm, investing in oil & gas, power and mining with offices in Houston, London, Boston and Perth.
Company information shared around the project outlines an upfront investment of about 700bn/-.
The build-out includes construction of the niobium mine, as well as a beneficiation facility and a ferroniobium furnace and smelter complex, components the company has previously costed at 53 million US dollars (about 136bn/-) for the mine and 134 million US dollars (about 344bn/-) for the beneficiation, furnace and smelter facilities.
The company says the processing component is the strategic differentiator because it enables production of ferroniobium, a high-value industrial material used by steelmakers, for export to markets across Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States.
The ferroniobium plant is being presented as a rare global industrial asset. Panda Hill has said that only three comparable ferroniobium facilities exist globally, two in Brazil and one in Canada, meaning the planned Mbeya plant would be Africa's only facility of its kind and the fourth FeNb smelter built globally in the past 40 years.
For Tanzanian businesses, one of the most significant numbers attached to the project is the supplier pipeline.
Panda Hill projects 70 per cent local procurement during production and a 1.77 billion US dollars (about 4.5tri/-) life-of-mine local procurement spend, alongside annual local procurement estimated at more than 60 million US dollars (about 154bn/-).
The company says this is designed to embed Tanzanian firms into long-term supply chains spanning construction, operations, transport, maintenance, services, security, catering and other support industries, positioning Mbeya as a durable industrial services hub.
On jobs, Mr Mavunde said the project is expected to support more than 1,600 jobs during construction and about 600 permanent jobs, with total direct and indirect beneficiaries estimated at around 7,000.
Panda Hill's projections similarly anticipate a large employment footprint over a 30-plus-year operating life, with a 21-to24-month construction window.
The project is located on the grounds of Songwe Prison farm, with Mr Mavunde noting that 5,434 acres of the project area fall within the Songwe Prison land.
He said project-linked infrastructure plans include construction of a new modern prison facility, which he described as intended to be among the most modern in East and Central Africa.
Mr Mavunde also stressed that community benefit is not optional, saying investor responsibility to the community is a firm requirement, alongside expected government revenues through taxes, levies, duties and other statutory payments.
On governance and state participation, Treasury Registrar Nehemiah Mchechu said the government's shareholding is held on behalf of citizens through the Office of Treasury Registrar (OTR) and noted that Tanzania has adopted a model requiring government participation in major projects through equity that does not require upfront capital injection by the state.
He said the agreed level for Panda Hill is 16 per cent.
The signing package involved multiple instruments. Deputy Attorney General Samwel Maneno signed the Framework Agreement on behalf of the government.
The Deputy Attorney General and Treasury Registrar Nehemiah Mchechu also signed the Shareholder Agreement with the investors, formalising Tanzania's participation structure and oversight framework.
This article originally appeared on Daily News.