The Golden Pride Gold Mine is an

open pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

located in

Nzega District Nzega District is one of the seven districts of the Tabora Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by Shinyanga Region, to the south and southwest by Uyui District and to the east by Igunga District. Its administrative seat is the town o ...

of the Tabora Region in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. Operated by the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n mining company Resolute Mining, Golden Pride was the first modern commercial gold mining project developed in Tanzania since the country's formation in 1964. From its opening to 2010, the mine has produced 1.68 million ounces of gold. The mine also lent its name to the ''Golden Pride Children's Choir'', which hails from local villages around the mine and has toured internationally. The mine was closed in late 2013. In its 15 years of operation, the mine produced more than 2.2 million ounces of gold.

History

Gold mining in Tanzania in modern times dates back to the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

colonial period, beginning with gold discoveries near

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

in 1894. The first gold mine in what was then

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

, the Sekenke Mine, began operation in 1909. Gold mining in Tanzania experienced a boom between 1930 and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. However, by 1967, gold production had dropped to insignificance. It was revived in the mid-1970s, when the gold price rose once more. In the late 1990s, foreign mining companies started investing in the exploration and development of gold deposits in Tanzania, leading to the opening of a number of new mines. The history of the Golden Pride project goes back to 1989 when Samax Resources was granted a prospecting license. In 1994, Samax entered a joint venture with

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

to develop the mine. However, in 1996, BHP decided not to progress with the project. Resolute then took over from BHP and subsequently acquired Samax's interests as well. In September 1997, Resolute completed a feasibility study for the project.Golden Pride Gold Mine
Structured Database of African Development, accessed: 27 July 2010 Construction of the mine was completed in November 1998, for a cost of US$48 million. The mine was opened on 7 February 1999 by the

President of Tanzania The President of the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania) is the head of state and head of government of the United Republic of Tanzania. The President leads the executive branch of the Government of Tanzan ...

, Benjamin Mkapa, with an initial mine life of seven years, which was later extended. The mine was upgraded in 2002 from a throughput of 1.6 million tonnes to 2.6 million tonnes at a cost of US$10.6 million. The mine was the scene of a robbery in April 2009, when 3,500 ounces of gold were stolen by armed robbers.Thieves steal 100 kg of gold from Aust-owned min
ABC News, published: 23 April 2009, accessed: 27 July 2010

Production

Production figures of the recent past were:

References

External links

Resolute website

''Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States website'' {{Gold mines in Tanzania Gold mines in Tanzania Surface mines in Tanzania Buildings and structures in the Tabora Region 1999 establishments in Tanzania