A discovery that will turn his life upside down. A Tanzanian artisanal miner became a millionaire after discovering two of the largest fragments of tanzanite ever found. Saniniu Kuryan Laizer, 52, uncovered the two gemstones weighing 9.27 and 5.1 kg in the mountains of Mererani (north), in an area that Tanzanian President John Magufuli had decided to surround with a wall in 2018 to control production and fight illegal exports of tanzanite.
The miner sold them to the Tanzanian government for 7.7 billion shillings (2.9 million euros). Tanzanite, a blue to purple gemstone mostly exported to India, is only mined in the Mererani Mountains, near Mount Kilimanjaro.
The stones will be kept at the national museum
At a reception on Wednesday in the city of Manyara to celebrate the event, Tanzanian Minister of Mines Doto Biteko said the stones were the largest ever found in the country. "We are now moving from a situation in which small miners trafficked in tanzanite to one where they respect procedures, and pay government taxes and royalties," he said.
Saniniu Kuryan Laizer said he wanted to use the money to help develop his local community. "I am planning to build a shopping center in Arusha and a school near my house," he said. The government said on Twitter that the stones would be kept at the national museum.
The damage of smuggling
When the army began in 2018 to erect a 24.4 km long wall around the Mererani mines, President Magufuli estimated that 40% of the national production of tanzanite was lost in contraband.
Since coming to power in late 2015, it has engaged in a showdown with the major foreign mining companies operating in Tanzania, accused of having undervalued their production of gold, diamonds and tanzanite in particular, resulting in a shortfall for the country of tens of billions of dollars in taxes and royalties since 1998.
World
Ethiopia: Locusts ravage agricultural land and plunge a million people into food crisis
News
Saint-Tropez: Worker discovers precious stones and a diamond in an old presbytery
- Fortune
- Africa
- Millionaire
- World
- Tanzania