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New dawn for Tanzania is confident President Suluhu Hassan will walk back

some of the more abrasive policies of her predecessor.
“We have never had a crossed word with the Government,”
OreCorp he said. “We just want to work with the Government to get the
best outcome for all. If there are misunderstandings then we
will sit around a table and work it out.”

by Dominic Piper The cabinet approval for Nyanzaga was further evidence of
the change in approach and Yates is confident there is enough
stability to encourage investors to revisit OreCorp, pointing to
ith cabinet approval and a $56 million capital raising the success of the recent capital raising.
Wcomplete, OreCorp Ltd can dare to dream about being “There was $90 million in the book when we shut it, so it
a Tanzanian gold miner once again. was heavily oversubscribed and we brought in some big
The change in fortunes at the Perth-based developer has shareholders from North America and Europe. It sets the
been a long time coming after a torrid four years which have scene for the future really.”
seen OreCorp unable to advance its Nyanzaga gold project Having larger funds on the register will also be useful when it
in north-west Tanzania amid tensions within both the country comes to funding the project.
and the boardroom. “Eventually we will need to raise about $300-400 million for
OreCorp had been earning into Nyanzaga via a JV with Acacia the project so having shareholders who can write $30 million
Mining since 2015. However, President John Magufuli’s bust- cheques individually puts us in a good place,” Yates said.
up with the established miner led to the Government on a
The immediate injection of $56 million will also allow project
major overhaul of its mining investment framework. By 2018 works to proceed with completion of the DFS and the
OreCorp and other junior developers in the East African
relocation action plan for the host community the priorities.
country found themselves frozen out of their projects.
Yates said the relocation plan was a key part of winning
Barrick’s eventual takeover of Acacia led to a kiss-and-
stakeholder support for the project.
make-up with the Tanzanian Government in early 2020 but
“All the preliminary works on the relocation plan have started
any attempts by OreCorp to reinvigorate Nyanzaga were
and we are doing everything to Equator Principles and IFC
frustrated by ongoing confusion over the country’s foreign
standards,” he said. “We will move everyone who is inside the
investment framework and the unfolding global public health
special mining licence area. It will be managed well and be of
crisis.
huge benefit to the community.”
“There we were, trying to build a project on the other side
Yates is conscious of the increased glare of the ESG spotlight
of the world in a changing policy environment and all in the
on mining companies.
middle of a pandemic,” OreCorp managing director Matthew
Yates told GMJ. “The Equator Principles and IFC standards have always
been there but there is much more of a spotlight on ESG
Eighteen months on, things look very different. The company
performance now,” he said. “If you don’t get it right, you can
is nearing 100% ownership of Nyanzaga and new Tanzanian
adversely affect project finance.”
President Samia Suluhu Hassan has promised to revisit the
country’s mining policy as she changes the Government’s OreCorp has set a Q1 2022 target for DFS completion, with
financing discussions to begin before the end of the year.
approach to foreign investment.
Given the interest in Nyanzaga before the investment policy
“There is a big change in attitude and a willingness to receive
investment,” Yates said. “It could be a very exciting chapter changes, Yates is optimistic about its bankability this time
around.
for Tanzania. There is a good president who is a good listener
and communicator “This is one of the best undeveloped gold projects in the
who wants to world,” he said. “There are very few projects around with a
welcome investors plus-200,000 ozpa profile, so we are very excited by the next
with open arms.” few years.”
While details OreCorp completed the Nyanzaga PFS as far back as 2017
have yet to be but there are benefits to having a period of hibernation.
announced, the “The irony is, the delay has actually benefitted the economics
foreign industry in because gold has gone from $US1,200/oz to $US1,800/oz,”
Yates said. “Most of the field work has been done, it is just
OreCorp’s Nyanzaga about how best we develop it now, the balance of the open pit
deposit remains against when we start the underground – which we were very
open below the conservative with – and whether there is anything in the plant
current defined we can refine to make us more efficient.”
resources

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