Barrick Mining Corporation announced on October 5 that the Tanzanian government had renewed the special mining licences for the North Mara gold mine for 15 years, securing operating tenure to 2041. The Northern Miner, Investing News Network and Ecofin Agency reported the renewal the same day, with Ecofin noting the mine has two decades of production behind it and that Barrick has continued investing in the operation.
North Mara is Barrick’s flagship Tanzanian asset and a meaningful contributor to its African production base. Licence security matters in Tanzania because the mine has a fraught history with the state, including the 2017-2020 export ban and concentrate dispute that was settled under the Twiga framework. A 15-year renewal is the longest clean tenure signal available and materially de-risks the asset for mine planning and capital allocation.
The renewal lands in the same week that North Mara’s past returns to court. A four-week trial opens October 7 in London’s High Court in which families of two miners killed at North Mara in 2019 are bringing claims against the London Bullion Market Association over its accreditation of the mine’s gold. Barrick is not the defendant in that case, but a finding against the LBMA’s Good Delivery oversight would sharpen scrutiny of all accredited refiners and miners. The licence renewal and the trial together define North Mara’s present: operating certainty at home, reputational and precedent risk in London.