Tanzania Revives Mkuju River Uranium Project With Pilot Plant

What changed

Tanzania has revived the Mkuju River uranium project in Namtumbo District, Ruvuma Region, after more than a decade of dormancy. Mantra Tanzania Limited, a subsidiary of Uranium One Group under Rosatom, commissioned a pilot processing plant on July 30, 2025, as part of a stated US$1 billion investment push.

The project is estimated to hold 139 million tonnes of uranium ore and could produce about 3,000 tonnes a year at full capacity.

Why it matters

This moves Tanzania’s uranium ambition from a dormant mining plan to an operating pilot stage. The government is treating the project as a strategic economic asset, with financing being arranged in phases and officials expecting it to create economic opportunities for Tanzanians.

The timing matters. The project stalled after the 2011 Fukushima disaster and a resulting fall in uranium prices. Renewed interest in nuclear energy has now brought it back into focus, giving Tanzania a chance to build a uranium industry alongside its wider push for foreign investment.

But the pilot plant is not yet a full mine. The report provides no final construction timetable, completed financing package, operating approval or verified production date. Tanzania’s promised nuclear-energy leap therefore depends on whether the phased investment can carry the project from demonstration to commercial production.