Tanzania

Total: ASM population of 1.5 million (upper range of estimates) appears reasonable when including development minerals. → 1,500,000
Min/Max: Lower range estimates are 1 million. Upper might exceed the 1.5 million. → 1,000,000 - 1,700,000
Female Participation: 20-30% often mentioned. 25% of 1.5 million =~ 375,000
Gold: Rather in the range of lower estimate (as also UBC-14) → 1,000,000

2020: 1,000,000 - 1,500,000

(TZA-2020a):

quoting earlier data from 2011 and 2015 of 1 - 1.5 million miners
Women: "//Between 20-30% of the ASM workforce are women (UN Women 2016)//"  

2018: 1,500,000

(IGF-18): Table 3 quoting HIL-16

Directly working in ASM: 1,500,000
Estimated number of dependents: 9,000,000
Main Minerals: Gold

2016: 1,500,000

(HIL-16):

Directly working in ASM: 1,500,000
Estimated number of dependents: 9,000,000

2014: 994,000

(UBC-14): Gold-only data produced by statistic modelling:

Expected ASM population: 994,000 
Estimated ASM gold production: 2 - 3.5 t/a

2013: 550,000

(IIED-13): 550,000

2003: 550,000

(MMSD-03): Estimate for MMSD research country: 550,000
MMSD study by B.Drechsler (https://commdev.org/pdf/publications/Small-Scale-Mining-Development-SADC-Region.pdf)

1999: 525,000

(ILO-99): Employment: 450,000 - 600,000
Number of mines: 4,000
Illegal mines: 40% -50%

ReferenceYearCitationArchived CopyLink
ILO-991999Jennings, N. (1999): Social and labour issues in small-scale mines. Report for discussion at the Tripartite Meeting on Social and Labour Issues in Small-scale Mines. ILO, Geneva.ilo-99.pdfilo.org/…
ITDG-012001Dreschler, B. (2001): Small-scale Mining and Sustainable Development within the SADC Region. MMSD, ITDG, Londonitdg-01.pdfcommdev.org/…
MMSD-032003Hentschel, T., Hruschka, F., Priester, M. (2003): Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining - Challenges and Opportunities. MMSD (IIED), London.mmsd-03.pdfpubs.iied.org/…
IIED-132013Buxton, A. (2013): Responding to the challenge of artisanal and small-scale mining. How can knowledge networks help? IIED, London.iied-13.pdfpubs.iied.org/…
UBC-142014Seccatore, J., Veiga, M., et al. (Univ. of British Columbia - UBC) (2014): An estimation of the artisanal small-scale production of gold in the world. Scitotenv. 496.ubc-14.pdfdoi.org/…
HIL-162016Hilson, G. (2016): Artisanal and small-scale mining and agriculture: Exploring their links in rural sub-Saharan Africa. IIED, London.hil-16.pdfpubs.iied.org/…
ARM-182018Barreto, M.L.,Schein, P., Hinton, J., Hruschka, F. (2018): The Impact of Small-Scale Mining Operations on Economies and Livelihoods in Low- to Middle-Income Countries. ARM, Envigado, PACT, Westcombe.arm-18.pdfresponsiblemines.org/…
IGF-182018IGF (2018): Global Trends in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM): A review of key numbers and issues. IIED/IISD, London, Winnipeg.igf-18.pdfiisd.org/…
GMA-182018UNEP (2018): Global Mercury Assessment 2018. Technical Background Report E-Annex. Chapter 3.2. UNEP, Geneva.gma-18.pdfwedocs.unep.org/…
TZA-2020a2020Delve (2020): Delve Country Profile Tanzania. World Bank, Pact, Washington.tza-2020a.pdfdelvedatabase.org/…
ASM DATA - Country Database Record
Country CodeTZA
CountryTanzania
ASM StatusExisting (data assessed)
Country Count1
Data year2016
Publ. year2020
ASM Miners1,500,000
- gold1 ,000 ,000
Data curation as reported
Inc. DevMinsome
- min.1,000,000
- max.1,700,000
- female375 ,000
ASM Commoditiesgemstone, gold, diamond, salt
  • country/tanzania.txt
  • Last modified: 2022/11/11
  • by Felix Hruschka