Tanzanite a rare violet blue gemstone only found at Mirerani deposits can last 100 years

[nngu007]

From NKWAME MARC in Arusha, 26th April 2011

DEPOSITS of tanzanite, a rare violet blue gemstone, only found at Mirerani in hills, Simanjiro District, Manyara Region, can last up to 100 years before they are completely exhausted, industry sources said.

"With responsible mining and careful digging tanzanite deposits in the Mirerari hills can last over a hundred years," said Mr Wessel Marais, the Acting Chief Operating Officer of Tanzanite-One Limited.

Mr Marais dismissed as false and unfounded claims that the rare violet blue gems would be exhausted within the next ten years.

Tanzanite-One, he said, had been conducting series of surveys on the gemstones.

He said from the surveys it was unlikely to find tanzanite deposits elsewhere in Northern Tanzania apart from Mirerani, but there were possibilities of finding other important minerals.

Tanzanite, believed to be ten-times rarer than diamonds, may be elusive to some miners, but that does not mean they are about to be exhausted.

Tanzanite-One Corporate Governance Manager and Company Secretary, Mr Lusekelo Mwakalukwa, said responsible mining can only be accomplished if artisanal miners and large scale operators would be working together.

"There has been protracted animosity between small and large scale miners. Small scale miners regard Tanzanite as their enemy," Mr Lusekelo said.

"As miners of the world's rarest gemstones we are faced with many challenges and have other major problems to address other than fighting ourselves.

"Once united we can turn around the tanzanite industry into an international prestige, similar to what De-Beers and Tiffany have so far accomplished," said Mr Mwakalukwa.

The tanzanite mining industry earns the country about 20 million US dollars (30bn/-) annually.

 

[nngu007]

By BILHAM KIMATI, 24th December 2011 @ 14:30,

DEPLETION of tanzanite deposits at Mererani in Arusha Region in the next 15 to 20 years is mere speculation. The larger portion of the deposits, which are found only in Tanzania, is still unexploited.

Geologist Damian Masala, who works with Tanzanite One Company, says that exploration and bulk sampling conducted in 1999 indicated that tanzanite bearing rocks which extend between 800 and 1,200 metres deep into the ground are still rich in reserves.

This depth cannot be reached with crude mining tools, he said. In July 2008, Mr Masala excavated tanzanite weighing 6.5 kilos at level 18 at a depth of about 600 metres underground.

"With simple working tools coupled with lack of ventilation, absence of powerful drilling machines and proper mining skills, the precious stones would remain scantily harvested and miners would possibly jump into wrong conclusions that the mines have been depleted," Damian explained

Mererani area, where tanzanite is mined, is divided into six blocks. These are referred to as block 'A,' 'A1,' 'B,' 'C,' 'D' and 'D1.' Mining activities that employ modern techniques adhering to recommended mining safety measures are found at block 'C' under Tanzanite One Company.

The Corporate Governance Manager and Company Secretary, Advocate Lusekelo Mwakalukwa, said that complaints that block 'C' is the richest in the area in terms of reserves and therefore produces more tanzanite than any other blocks are wrong.

"Grievances originated from the truth that excavation among small scale miners is done on the ridge and shallow sedimentary belts and the technology to sort out the gemstones is not that much developed either," Mwakalukwa explained.

Tanzanite is one of the most intriguing, desirable and precious gemstones of modern times. It is found in only one place on earth - in Tanzania deep in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Experts say that the chances of tanzanite being found anywhere else in the world are less than one in a million. Its single source and limited supply means that tanzanite is at least one thousand times rarer than diamonds.

Protas Lugua and Shaban Zuberi are small-scale tanzanite miners. They agree that lack of proper tools, which could guarantee safety, was the major setback in their operations underground and the subsequent limited harvest of the gemstone.

"Shortly after blasting, we (artisanal miners) rush into the pits with very poor ventilation. Some miners faint and the lucky ones are quickly taken out from the pit. Life and death are on equal probability in the mining pits.

"We need support from the government for acquisition of appropriate excavation tools and a suitable market for the gemstone that we get," Zuberi said.

Giving a picture on how the value of tanzanite is determined, Gemologist Haggai Kinyau said when cut and polished, tanzanite becomes a dazzling kaleidoscope of royal blue, indigo and periwinkle.

"At least five features must be verified before the market price is set. These are colour, clarity, cut, carat weight and confidence usually applicable to tanzanite which is a Quality Scale. "Carat weight is the term used to measure tanzanite weight. One carat has 100 points and weighs one fifth of a gram," Kinyau explained.

Tanzanite, for example, of 1.49 carat of the princes shape with good clarity, excellent cutting and violetish blue moderate colour fetches 835 US dollars. Larger stones tend to exhibit the most intense colours and the most brilliance and fire and the darker colours, invariably, attract the highest prices.

Another Geologist, Vitus Ndakize, said that tanzanite was formed over 585 million years ago, yet this remarkable treasure remained hidden beneath the earth's surface until just 40 years ago when, according to local sources, a Maasai tribesman herding his cattle stumbled upon a translucent crystal on the ground.

"Whilst the exact story of tanzanite's discovery remains something of a mystery, Maasai communities have built their own legends about the miraculous find. They tell stories of how the land was set ablaze by a bolt of lightning and that it was the heat from the magic fire in the sky that transformed crystals in the ground into shimmering blue-violet gems," Ndakize explained.

However, the Maasai legends have some geological correlations for the fact that the age of the globe is 4 billion years old, but nearly 700 million years ago underground tectonic forces at the temperature of 650 degrees centigrade caused isoclinals folding and ramping of underground layers.

"In fact, tanzanite is found in a rock known as Mozambican Mobile Belt that extends between Mozambique through Tanzania to Egypt. But geological records show that underground forces acted on the Tanzanian side leaving Mererani the only location where the gemstone is found," he explained.

At first the gemstones were thought that these were unusually vibrant sapphires, but it was soon confirmed that the new gemstone was more complex than a sapphire with a colour that was more alluring, more exotic and entirely unexpected.

New York's celebrated jeweler, Tiffany and Co heard about the discovery in Tanzania and were the first to bring the dazzling new gemstone to the world, naming the new finding 'tanzanite' in 1968 declaring it to be the most beautiful blue stone to be discovered in over 200 years.

 

[mwanapolo]

Ripoti nyingi toka Tanzanite one nikuonyesha kwamba wao ndio wana chimba kisasa na bila ajali. Hivi sasa wachimbaji wadogo tumeanza kutumia njia za kisasa za uchimbaji. Hatuwahitaji hoa wazungu tena, na mkataba wao uki isha feb 2012 waondoke kwa aman watuachie mlima wetu.
Kuna migodi ya wachimbaji wadogo imefika mita 600 na wanachimba njia pana tundu 25 mpaka 30. Kwa hiyo hata sisi tunaweza bila makaburu!

 

[Saint Ivuga]

Read this small attach

Nataka kujibiwa kuwa toka yagunduliwe yame worth kiasi gani na Tanzania imepata kiasi gani.
Tupate funzo.

 

[ALFMOJA]

Serikali inasema madini ya Tanzanite kupatikana kwa uhakika Tanzania mwisho ni 2044.
Inakuwaje hapo? Taarifa hii inatuambia nini wafanyabishara na taifa kwa ujumla? HABARI KWA UNDANI GONGA HAPA:

ARE TANZANITES FOR EVER? MAYBE NOT…. | TZ Business News

 

[ALFMOJA]

 

[Highlander]

Serikali inasema madini ya Tanzanite kupatikana kwa uhakika Tanzania mwisho ni 2044.
Inakuwaje hapo? Taarifa hii inatuambia nini wafanyabishara na taifa kwa ujumla? HABARI KWA UNDANI GONGA HAPA:

ARE TANZANITES FOR EVER? MAYBE NOT…. | TZ Business News

KUNA MTU ANAONGOPA HAPA: the big question is WHO!

Waihama Mererani kwa uhaba wa Tanzanite

NA SHAABAN MDOE, ARUSHA

BAADHI ya wakazi wa Mererani wilaya ya Simanjiro mkoani Manyara, wameanza kuhama kutokana na hali ngumu ya maisha ambayo inatokana na kukosekana kwa madini katika migodi ya wachimbaji wadogo.

Uchunguzi uliofanywa na mwandishi wa habari hizi, umebaini kuwa licha ya wakazi wengi kuanza kuondoka, maduka kadhaa na baa ambazo zilikuwa maarufu zimefungwa.

Wakizungumza, baadhi ya wakazi wa mji huo, walieleza kuwa wachimbaji wadogo kukosa madini na kutukuwepo kwa mkakati maalum wa kuwasaidia huenda kukasababisha watu wengi kuhama mji huo.

"Hali ni mbaya sana..tumechimba madini kwa zaidi ya mwaka sasa hakuna hata dalili, hivyo hata wafadhili wameanza kujiondoa," alisema John Mathias ambaye ni mchimbaji katika migodi ya kitalu B.

Mathias alisema kutokana na kutopata madini ni wazi mji wa
Mererani ambao tegemeo lake kubwa ni wachimbaji wakipata madini na kuuza, umeanza kudorora na hivyo wafanyabiashara kadhaa kufunga biashara zao.

Pius Kirenga ambaye ni mfanyabiashara anayemiliki duka katika eneo la Zaire, alisema kutokana na hali ngumu amelazimika kufunga duka lake kwani hakuna wateja.

"Miezi sita ya nyuma kwa siku hapa nilikuwa nauza bidhaa mbali mbali hadi kufikia sh. 20,000 kwa siku, lakini sasa hata sh. 3,000 haipatikana…nimeona ni bora kufunga kutafuta utaratibu wa kuhamia wilayani Hai," alisema Kirenga.
Diwani wa Kata ya Mererani, Awadhi Omar aliomba serikali kuwa na utaratibu wa kuwasaidia wachimbaji wadogo kupata nyezo za kisasa na mitaji ili waendelee na uchimbaji na hivyo kulipa kodi na kuinua hali zao kiuchumi.

Baadhi ya wachimbaji wenye migodi katika maeneo ya wachimbaji wadogo, waliomba serikali kuwasaidia katika suala zima la kuwawezesha kupata mitaji ya kutafuta madini kwani sasa wanafilisika bila kupata madini.

Wachimbaji hao, walioomba kutotajwa majina,walisema sasa madini yanapatikana katika umbali mrefu sana na hivyo
uchimbaji wake unahitaji vifaa vya kisasa na mitaji mikubwa.

Hata hivyo, hali ngumu kwa wachimbaji wadogo ilikwishatambuliwa miaka kadhaa iliyopita hasa kutokana kuchimba bila kuwa na utaalamu wa kutosha na mitaji mikubwa.

Hali hiyo pia inachangiwa na maeneo ya wachimbaji hao hasa katika kitalu B kuwa na msongamano wa wachimbaji na
hivyo baadhi yao wenye uwezo kushindwa kutanua migodi kama ambavyo imefanywa katika migodi ya kitalu A,B na D.

SOURCE:

https://www.jamiiforums.com/jukwaa-la-siasa/2227-waihama-mererani-kwa-uhaba-wa-tanzanite.html