Dar Es Salaam — TANZANITEONE, the biggest miner and marketer of tanzanite, has managed to come out of red to post a gross profit of US$ 1.8million in the first half of 2010, from a previous US$ 0.2million loss.
The half year report shows that the company's net profit for the six months to June 30 was US$0.7m, against a loss of US$0.6m in 2009. The firm's CEO, Mr Bernard Olivier, attributed the profit to gradual recovery in the tanzanite price combined with a sustained margin enhancement programme. "We have worked hard to maximise value from our coloured gemstone operations and I am particularly pleased to see the efficiencies from our extraction operations in terms of grade," the CEO said.
The future task of the firm is to maximise sales of its lighter stones into new markets through cutting and marketing joint ventures. Another strategy is to build high margin business from cut high grade tanzanite, Mr Olivier said. The company, which its revenue increased by 74 per cent to US$ 8.6 million, said negotiations with the Tanzanian government were continuing for development of economically sustainable domestic cutting operations.
The talks are the result of a ban on the export of rough tanzanite larger than 5 carats. Last month, the government lifted the export ban of raw tanzanite larger than one gramme up to mid-next year to enable building sustainable domestic cutting operations. The commissioner for minerals and energy, Dr Peter Kafumu, said TanzaniteOne had been given extension of exporting raw stones up to December 31, this year.
But Mr Sammy Mollel, the chairman of the Tanzania Mineral Dealers Association (TAMIDA), said that the move to lift the ban was against the agreement reached and contrary to the notice on government gazette. In the first half of this year TanzaniteOne production went up to 1.0m carats, which was 21 per cent up compared with the same period last year.
There was a five per cent increase in processed ore to 18,911 tonnes, with a 15 per cent average grade increase to 55 carats per tonne, the report noted.
