[2007-08-29]  TanzaniteOne Moves Head Office to Dar, Seeks Listing On DSE
Having come under heavy criticism from the public and politicians for operating from South Africa, a Tanzanite mining company, TanzaniteOne, has relocated to Tanzania.

The company's chief executive officer, Ian Harebottle, told The EastAfrican that since mining was being done in Tanzania, it was in order for the head office to be based in Arusha
"The significance of the move to Arusha from Johannesburg helps us to remove the notion of being looked at as a foreign company. It also brings with it jobs, meaning that work that was done by foreigners when it was based in South Africa will be done by Tanzanians," Mr Harebottle said.

He revealed that the company's management had made a commitment to President Jakaya Kikwete in Cape Town last February to make the company truly Tanzanian.

He said there had been a lot of negative talk on TanzaniteOne, which he hopes will now come to an end.

"We want to make Tanzania, where we are mining gemstones, into our base as we expand to other parts of the world," said Mr Harebottle, who added that TanzaniteOne has applied to be listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE).

"Way back in 2004, we applied to be listed, but there were some restrictions.

Currently we have already applied to the Capital Markets and Securities Authority and the DSE. We are optimistic our application will go through," he said.

The firm acquired a controlling stake in the tanzanite mines formerly run by African Gem Resources Ltd (Afgem). Afgem used to trade at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market.

Tanzanite One Ltd is registered in Bermuda and is led by a group of Asian, British and Australian investors whose main speciality is mining projects.

The Tanzania monitoring authority refused to allow the company to trade on the DSE because it wanted to sell its shares in US dollars and the South African rand.

Mr Harebottle said that TanzaniteOne wants to ensure that a fair percentage of the already traded shares are set aside to be offered on the DSE to Tanzanians at a fair price.


Source: Copyright © 2007 East African.