The world's only known source of tanzanite is situated in the Simanjiro district of Tanzania, 70km south-east of Arusha and 16km south of Kilimanjaro International Airport. In 1990, the Tanzanian Government demarcated the tanzanite mining area into four blocks: A, B, C and D, measuring approximately 5km by 2km in total. anzaniteOne owns the mining licence for Block C, the largest block at the centre of resource.

Tanzanite is located within a relatively complex geological environment and is found in 'chocolate-tablet' boudin structure, typically located in the hinges of isoclinal folds (folds dipping in the same direction) present in the ore body.

TanzaniteOne has made significant strides towards delineating the tanzanite deposit. Deep hole drilling, geophysics, geochemical analyses and structural and geological mapping have all increased our level of geological knowledge and confidence. our drilling programme has shown that the lower horizon, which hosts the economic mineralisation, extends three times further dip than initially anticipated. This databank of proprietary geological know-how is unrivalled and will become more important than ever as mining operations deepen and the artisanal mining styles employed on the other licence blocks become redundant.

A conservative estimate of TanzaniteOne's resource, and as published at the time of listing on AIM in 2004, would place the figure at 63-83 million carats. At an average price of $ 12/carat in the rough, this represents an estimated $756 million to $996 million in the ground.

Tanzania

Tanzania, which takes its name from the old colonial territory of Tanganyika and the island of Zanzibar, is home to around 30 million people. From Africa's deepest lake, Tanganyika, to its highest peak, the legendary Mount Kilimanjaro.  . The country’s  national parks, conservation areas and game reserves, which include the famous Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, cover nearly a quarter of the country and are home to an estimated twenty percent of Africa's largest mammals.

Tanzania has also been blessed with vast natural resources, mostly untapped and ready to transform Tanzania into one of Africa's major production and distribution centres. Tanzania is also one of the most promising gemstone frontiers, with more than 50 varieties of gemstones having been identified to date.  Significantly, it is also the world's only source of tanzanite.