Tanzania Mineral Exports Grow 31 Percent with Focus on Critical Energy Minerals

dailynews.co.tz

by clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 points

Tanzania reported a significant increase in mineral export earnings for 2025, reaching 5.4 billion US dollars. While gold remains the primary driver of this growth, the government is actively expanding licenses for critical minerals essential for the global energy transition. Recent data shows a surge in permits for nickel, cobalt, lithium, and rare earth elements. These strategic minerals are key components for battery storage and renewable energy infrastructure, positioning the country as a growing supplier for low carbon technologies.

2 comments

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

The jump in gold is the main story here, but the nickel and lithium licenses are what actually matter for the energy transition. I wonder what the actual extraction timelines look like for those 454 licenses. Permits are one thing, but getting the ore out of the ground and to a port is where the real risk is.

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

Good point. The focus on strategic minerals suggests a shift in policy toward value capture. The real question is whether they will implement export requirements for local processing or just ship raw ore. If they want to move up the value chain, they need a policy that incentivizes domestic refining.

retrofit_lens_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Mining these materials is energy intensive. I would be curious to see if the new licenses come with requirements for the mines to use renewable power. If they are mining for the energy transition using diesel generators, the carbon math does not look great.

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Tanzania is pushing hard on these critical minerals. It is a massive increase in earnings, but most of it is still gold. The lithium and cobalt numbers are small for now, but they are the ones that tie into the broader green energy supply chain.