Tanzania is among the world’s top producers of gold and other precious minerals, yet much of its mining sector remains informal and undercapitalized. Around 65 percent of Tanzanian miners are artisan-scale miners (ASMs), often working with limited equipment and minimal financing. These miners may hold licenses and begin operations, but progress is slow, yields are low, and the path to sustainable growth is challenging. Mint Precious Metals, founded by Tantel Holdings, was created to bridge this gap by providing ethical, scalable solutions for small-scale miners while professionalizing the supply chain.
Evolving from Trading to Empowering Miners
Mint Precious Metals began as a gold trading company, sourcing directly from mines and aggregators. It quickly became clear that the main bottleneck in the sector was not demand, but limited supply due to outdated mining methods and insufficient capital. Monthly output for an average ASM typically ranges between 200 grams and one kilogram, far below the potential capacity if mechanized methods were used.
This insight drove a strategic pivot. Mint Precious Metals began providing and operating machinery for ASMs, upgrading their operations from manual labor to mechanized mining. This not only increases production efficiency but also improves safety and working conditions. In return, Mint Precious Metals enters into partnerships with miners, securing ethical offtake at fair market prices and ensuring a reliable supply chain. This approach is the first of its kind in Tanzania, combining institutional-level oversight with support for small-scale miners.
Ongoing Commitment to Ethical Standards
Mint Precious Metals places ethical mining at the heart of its operations, ensuring that every partnership meets internationally recognized standards. The company is pursuing Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) certification, a benchmark for traceable and responsible sourcing in the global supply chain. All partner mines are required to operate without child labor, avoid the use of mercury and other hazardous chemicals, and follow environmentally sustainable practices.
Beyond enforcement, Mint Precious Metals provides ongoing training, technical support, and monitoring to help mines improve safety, efficiency, and compliance. By implementing these measures, the company not only safeguards communities and ecosystems but also sets a new standard for artisanal mining in Tanzania, supporting the country’s goal of aligning local operations with global ethical and environmental expectations.
The Mint Model: How it Works
Mint Precious Metals operates through a structured, two-phase approach designed to maximize both impact and efficiency. In the first phase, artisan-scale miners receive access to modern machinery and hands-on operational support. This eliminates the barrier of high upfront capital costs, increases extraction efficiency by up to three times compared to manual methods, and improves safety on site.
In the second phase, Mint Precious Metals forms strategic partnerships with miners, providing continuous operational oversight, ensuring regulatory compliance, and purchasing gold at transparent, fair-trade prices that reflect market value. This dual approach is both empowering and protective: miners gain the tools, training, and expertise to scale operations responsibly, while Mint Precious Metals secures a reliable, traceable, and ethically sourced supply, creating a model that benefits communities, the environment, and the broader Tanzanian gold sector.
Looking Ahead at Tantel’s Mining Mission
Mint Precious Metals is on a mission to strengthen artisan-scale miners by providing machinery, tools, and expertise to scale operations sustainably. Long-term partnerships help miners transition from artisanal methods to institutional-grade practices, while Mint leads in ethical sourcing, traceability, and regulatory compliance. By managing the full supply chain, from equipment maintenance to land reporting, the company makes small-scale mining more efficient, scalable, and sustainable.
We are currently rolling out its model across multiple mines in Tanzania, deploying machinery, establishing oversight teams, and finalizing certifications to ensure the highest ethical and operational standards. The goal is to empower, not replace, local miners. By combining their know-how with Mint’s resources, expertise, and ethical oversight, the company is creating a high-impact, scalable mining model. Through this approach, Mint Precious Metals is positioning itself as a leader in responsible gold sourcing, strengthening Tanzania’s mining sector, and empowering the very miners who make up its majority.
