DAR ES SALAAM — October 5, 2026 — Barrick Mining Corporation has formally announced that Tanzania renewed the special mining licences for North Mara Gold Mine for another 15 years, extending the regulatory horizon for the operation in the country’s northwest.
The company’s announcement distributed through GlobeNewswire was issued at 01:00 Eastern Time on October 5, equivalent to 08:00 East Africa Time. Barrick said the extension supports continued investment in the mine and surrounding communities.
What does North Mara’s licence renewal mean? Tanzania has renewed North Mara Gold Mine’s special mining licences for another 15 years, according to Barrick’s October 5 announcement. The extension supports longer-term operational planning under the existing partnership. It does not, by itself, establish a new investment budget, production target or guaranteed increase in jobs.
A longer planning horizon, not a new mine
North Mara is an established operation rather than a newly approved mining project. Barrick’s mine profile places it in Tarime district in Mara region, around 20 kilometres south of the Kenyan border and 100 kilometres east of Lake Victoria.
Commercial production began in 2002. The operation combines underground mining at Gokona with open-pit mining at Nyabirama, and its processing plant has average capacity of 8,000 tonnes of ore a day. That is an ore-processing figure, not a measure of daily gold output.
A longer licence term can give an operator more room to plan exploration, equipment purchases and mine development. For workers and suppliers, continuity of an existing operation also matters. Those potential benefits, however, depend on decisions and activity beyond the licence renewal itself.
Barrick’s announcement does not specify a new capital commitment, construction programme or additional positions tied to the extension. Nor does it give the licences’ precise commencement and expiry dates. The 15-year term should therefore not be converted into a claimed calendar expiry year without those details.
Tanzania’s stake remains part of the Twiga arrangement
The renewal sits within the partnership Barrick and Tanzania established through Twiga Minerals in 2019. Twiga operates North Mara and Bulyanhulu together.
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Barrick Confirms Tanzania’s 15-Year North Mara Mining Licence Renewal
Oct 5, 2026
Oct 5, 2026
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DAR ES SALAAM — October 5, 2026 — Barrick Mining Corporation has formally announced that Tanzania renewed the special mining licences for North Mara Gold Mine for another 15 years, extending the regulatory horizon for the operation in the country’s northwest.
The company’s announcement distributed through GlobeNewswire was issued at 01:00 Eastern Time on October 5, equivalent to 08:00 East Africa Time. Barrick said the extension supports continued investment in the mine and surrounding communities.
What does North Mara’s licence renewal mean? Tanzania has renewed North Mara Gold Mine’s special mining licences for another 15 years, according to Barrick’s October 5 announcement. The extension supports longer-term operational planning under the existing partnership. It does not, by itself, establish a new investment budget, production target or guaranteed increase in jobs.
A longer planning horizon, not a new mine
North Mara is an established operation rather than a newly approved mining project. Barrick’s mine profile places it in Tarime district in Mara region, around 20 kilometres south of the Kenyan border and 100 kilometres east of Lake Victoria.
Commercial production began in 2002. The operation combines underground mining at Gokona with open-pit mining at Nyabirama, and its processing plant has average capacity of 8,000 tonnes of ore a day. That is an ore-processing figure, not a measure of daily gold output.
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A longer licence term can give an operator more room to plan exploration, equipment purchases and mine development. For workers and suppliers, continuity of an existing operation also matters. Those potential benefits, however, depend on decisions and activity beyond the licence renewal itself.
Barrick’s announcement does not specify a new capital commitment, construction programme or additional positions tied to the extension. Nor does it give the licences’ precise commencement and expiry dates. The 15-year term should therefore not be converted into a claimed calendar expiry year without those details.
Tanzania’s stake remains part of the Twiga arrangement
The renewal sits within the partnership Barrick and Tanzania established through Twiga Minerals in 2019. Twiga operates North Mara and Bulyanhulu together.
As The Citizen reports, the government holds a 16 per cent interest in each mine, while the partners share economic benefits equally. The report describes the renewed licences as allowing North Mara to continue under its existing ownership and partnership structure.
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These are distinct arrangements: a 16 per cent ownership interest is not the same thing as a 50 per cent equity stake. The renewal announcement does not describe a transfer of ownership or a replacement of the Twiga framework.
Mining Weekly’s report also confirms the 15-year extension and the existing partnership. It attributes the expected long-term investment benefits to Barrick rather than announcing a separately costed expansion.
Employment and spending figures cover Tanzania
Barrick put the renewal alongside figures describing its wider contribution in Tanzania. It said approximately 96 per cent of its roughly 3,000-strong workforce in the country consists of Tanzanian nationals, with 47 per cent drawn from communities surrounding the mines.
Those national workforce figures should not be treated as a North Mara-only headcount. They also describe existing employment, not thousands of newly announced vacancies.
The company reported approximately $5.3 billion in contributions to Tanzania’s economy since 2019, including $1.2 billion in 2025 through taxes, royalties, salaries, dividends and local procurement. These are company-reported totals across several categories, not a new government payment or investment pledged with the renewal.
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For surrounding communities, the practical questions remain which projects receive funding, when work happens and who benefits. Barrick says community development committees help prioritise schools, clinics and roads; the announcement does not provide a new project-by-project delivery schedule.
Formal confirmation follows an earlier public reference
October 5 is the date of the formal release, not an established date for the government’s approval. The organiser’s published transcript of Barrick’s September 29 Mining Forum Americas presentation already records a reference to a recent 15-year North Mara licence renewal. That transcript is automatically generated, but the subsequent release confirms the term.
The distinction matters: the latest announcement provides a clear company statement about the extension, while leaving the administrative decision date unspecified.
The wider economic backdrop includes Tanzania’s mining and trade cooperation with the DRC, proposed Central Corridor improvements and the Uvinza–Musongati railway project with Burundi. These are separate regional initiatives, not projects approved or financed by North Mara’s licence renewal.
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