Chinese company Henan Yudi Mining Company has signed an agreement with the Tanzanian government to develop a major graphite deposit in the Morogoro region. Investment in the project will amount to $100 million, with the state receiving a 17% stake in the project, the Tanzanian publication Daily News reports.
The deposit's reserves are estimated at 104.28 million tons of graphite. Once at full capacity, the facility will produce 50,000 tons of graphite annually, with processing capabilities of up to 1 million tons of ore per year.
Tanzania's Minister of Minerals, Anthony Mavunde, called the signing of the agreement a historic event. The government expects the project to create more than 600 direct jobs for local residents.
"We are moving from simply hosting mining operations to directly participating in the value created by our mineral resources. Tanzania is among the countries that are rapidly attracting investment in the mining industry in Africa. This is due to policies, plans, laws, and a favorable investment climate," the minister stated.
China's Ambassador to Tanzania, Chen Mingjian, praised the signing of the agreement and noted that China remains one of the leading sources of foreign direct investment in Tanzania.
"This project will open up another area of commercial cooperation between Tanzania and China," the ambassador said.
Graphite is a critical mineral for modern technologies, including the production of anodes for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems. The Morogoro project is part of Tanzania's strategy to develop domestic mineral processing rather than exporting raw materials.
Earlier in August, one of Tanzania's leading commercial banks, Stanbic Bank, launched a direct settlement service in Chinese yuan, allowing local companies to pay for goods from Chinese suppliers and receive payments from Chinese buyers without intermediate conversions through the dollar.