Rights activists said Wednesday that Tanzanian, Africa's fourth
largest gold producer, must impose better controls on gold exports
to ensure the country is not used as a conduit for smuggled
minerals from volatile Eastern Congo.
Tanzania is among a number of African countries required to
verify the sourcing of its mineral exports under U.S. legislation,
which comes into force in April, and is designed to stop the sale
of illegally mined minerals from Africa that fund conflicts.
"In order to fulfill the provisions of the U.S. law, Tanzania
has a responsibility to differentiate between conflict gold coming
from Congo and the legitimate gold coming from its own mines
through a rigorous independent monitoring system," said Sasha
Lezhnev, an expert with U.S.-based advocacy group, Enough
Project.
Gold mining companies operating in Tanzania and the Tanzanian
government are calling for the country's removal from the list.
Tanzania's Chamber of Minerals and Energy has already written an
appeal to the U.S. in an effort to protect the country's gold
exports.
Ami Mpungwe, the head of the gold industry body in Tanzania said
that the new legislation, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act, could lead to stigmatization of
responsibly produced gold in Tanzania.
The plea comes at a time when Kenyan and Tanzanian authorities
are investigating a gold smuggling racket after seizing large
amounts of gold smuggled from Eastern Congo last week, according to
government officials.
But Mike Davis, the head of the Conflict Resources team at
rights group Global Witness, said the risks of damage to the
Tanzanian mining sector by the new legislation have been "greatly
exaggerated".
Companies operating in Tanzania include London-listed Africa
Barrick Gold (ABG.LN), a unit of Canada's Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX),
South Africa-based Anglogold Ashanti Ltd. (AU) and Australia-based
Resolute Mining Ltd. (RRMGGF).
Last year, Tanzania's 2010 gold output rose by 9% to 44.6 metric
tons.
-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires;
256-75-2624615 bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk