OPPORTUNITIES for collective ownership of Tanzanite mines located in Simanjiro district, Manyara region have opened wide as Richland Resources Ltd, the company that owns Tanzanite One Mining Limited works on the final stages of listing on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE).

“This is to avail opportunity to as many Tanzanians as possible to be part of the tanzanite industry and be shareholders in the largest and most advanced miner of tanzanite. Once listed, the whole of Richland’s issued capital will be freely traded on the stock exchange and will be available for Tanzanians to buy and sell on the market without any restrictions on the number or shareholding available for Tanzanians,” said Ambassador Ami Mpungwe, Tanzanite One Company Chairman and Deputy Chair of Richland Resources Ltd in Dar es Salaam recently.

The listing of the company that owns Tanzanite (One Mining Ltd) on DSE will be historic with the aim of offering local ownership to Tanzanians in a transparent and egalitarian manner, explained the Ambassador. He however made it clear that the move does not affect the name or structure of the Tanzanian subsidiaries. Tanzanite One will continue to operate with its name along with other subsidiaries namely Tsavorite One Mining Limited, Tanzanite One Trading Limited, Tanzanite Laboratory Limited and Urafiki Gemstone EPZ Limited which are all subsidiaries of Richland Resources Ltd.

“Our leading position in the tanzanite market has assured Tanzanite One the recognition and respect of its peers and provides the opportunity for expansion into a broader range of operation at various key sites around the world,” he said. Once all goes well in the procedure leading up to the listing on DSE the whole process should be completed by April this year. The company expects to float at least 20 per cent of its shares to other shareholders both local and international.

The company’s unveiled plans on expansion include establishment of a modern plant for cutting and polishing the tanzanite stones under the supervision of Urafiki Gemstone Limited. The intuitive would not only add value to the gemstone but also create job opportunities for Tanzanians. Asked to comment on the market for the rare gem, Ambassador Mpungwe wishes for effective control of the marketing of the tanzanite.

“The situation is improving as Tanzanite One continues to establish good work relationship with small scale miners giving them better and acceptable prices for the gemstone. Control is necessary,” Ambassador Mpungwe advised. Clarifying on what often considered confusion when companies change names, Richland Resources Ltd Board Member Emmanuel Ole Naiko, the former Executive Director of the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) said Tanzanite One will not change its name.

“The public needs to understand that companies or business entities changing names does not imply tax evasion as regulations are binding and new operators do not have an excuse for not paying taxes,” Ole Naiko elaborated. The Corporate and Public Relations Manager of Tanzanite One, Dotto Medard said the company has already contributed to in excess of US Dollar 23.4 million to the government through corporate taxes, royalties and payroll related taxes.

“The company will continue to support significant growth in the country’s economy through export earning, tax and royalty payments. We (company) have maintained strong relationship with all the industry stakeholders at all levels in order to build

a win-win partnership, world class mining experience and best practice safety measures and environmental care during excavation at Mererani mine,” Medard said.

Apart from improvement of the infrastructure, the company has extended support to the construction of the Naisinyai Secondary School, construction of a community centre, renovation of the Naisinyai Med-clinic dispensary, expansion of the primary school in the area and provision of water to 2,000 villagers and more than 5,000 heads of cattle. He announced that TanzaniteOne Mining Ltd would continue to lead the way in the tanzanite industry as the largest and most advanced miner of the gemstone.

The intrinsic attraction to the tanzanite gem is its unique beauty, plus the finite nature of a single known resource at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania. The unique position held by Tanzanite One Mining affords it the opportunity to support and influence the entire channel, from mine to market, ensuring that maximum stakeholder value is achieved at each stage of the process. Behind discovery of tanzanite, there is an interesting story by the person believed to have seen the gemstone first.

His name is Jumanne Ngoma. He was once quoted as saying that when he saw it he could hardly give it away. “I found the tanzanite in Mererani, Arusha, in the area called Kiteto at the beginning of January 1967. I was on my way to visit some of my relatives who live in Kiteto, when walking through the bush I saw some crystals of a blue mineral lying on the ground. They were very nice.

They were blue, some were transparent – In a few hours I collected about 5kg – they were all very lovely blue crystals.” He continues; “A friend told me to get on the bus and go to Nairobi, where there was a much bigger gem market than in Arusha. I borrowed money for the journey and headed to Nairobi. The potential buyers didn’t even know what the mineral was. They told me, though, that as soon as they knew, they would let me know.

I left them with the 5kg of tanzanite in exchange for a return ticket home. Forty five (45) years have gone by and I’m still waiting for their answer! But I kept some samples for myself,” Ngoma narrates. Following this discovery, tanzanite quickly became one of the world’s most popular gemstones. Some credit is due to Tiffany Co., who introduced it to market with a lovely name that pays tribute to the beauty of the land of its birth.

Today tanzanite is available in a variety of shapes and sizes. Rarely pure blue, tanzanite almost always displays overtones of violet. In smaller sizes, it tends toward lighter shades of lavender and periwinkle, while in sizes above ten carats, tanzanite can show richer, more intense blue colours.