SHUT TANZANIAN MINE REMITS $130 MILLION

ABANDONED: Tulawaka Gold Mine in Kagera region, was commissioned in 2004 at a cost of $48 million.

MWANZA, Tanzania - Tulawaka Gold Mine paid Tsh218.3 billion  (about $130 million) in taxes prior to its closure, a report by Tanzania Mineral Audit Agency (TMAA) has revealed.

The taxes were Corporate Tax, Pay As You Earn, Withholding Tax, Service Levy, Road Toll and Skills Development Levy.

The company also paid royalty to government amounting to $25.37 million (Tsh44 billion). 

According to the TMAA report,  during its life of nine years, the mine produced and sold 933,015 troy ounces of gold worth $828.60 million, and 104,502 troy ounces of silver worth $1.71 million.

Tulawaka Gold Mine, in Kagera region was commissioned in 2004 at a capital cost amounting to $48 million, and had its first gold pour on March 15, 2005.

By June, 2013 the mine had accumulated mine closure liabilities amounting to $23 million.

Tulawaka Gold Mine, a 70/30 joint venture between Pangea Minerals Limited,  a wholly-owned subsidiary of African Barrick Gold, and MDN Inc. ceased its operations on July 30, 2013. 

The TMAA Report made available to East African Business Week states that the mine had 486 local employees by the end of 2012. In addition, the mine spent $6.05 million on Community Development Projects between 2005 and 2013. 

Tanzania government took technical evaluation and was handled to a state mining corporation (STAMICO).

This follows the decision by ABG to stop mining at Tulawaka and close down its operations at the site.

Tulawaka used to be one of the four gold mines ABG, a subsidiary of Canadian-based Barrick Gold, operates in Tanzania. The others are Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi and the North Mara Gold Mine.

STAMICO plans to continue with open cast mining operations at Tulawaka instead of underground.

Tulawaka Gold Mine ceased operating in March, 2013 after ABG reported that its reserves had become economically unviable for extraction and refining.

Tulawaka was a combined underground and open pit gold mine located in the Biharamulo district, in Kagera Region in North-Western Tanzania.

In April 2013 ABG reported a decrease in pre-tax profit for the first quarter mainly attributing to lower revenues.

The company recorded pre-tax profit of $30.4 million compared to $60.2 million last year quarter. 

This was mostly due to the lesser revenues of $254.6 million compared to $267.5 million reported the previous year. The firm reported net earnings of $20.7 million or $5.1 per share compared to $40.3 million or $9.8 per share.

It also recorded a gold output of 146,105 ounces compared to 144,643 ounces last year and such decline contributed to its closure.

East African Business Week