• Perseus Mining holds 80% of Tanzania’s $523 million Nyanzaga mine.
• Tanzania’s government maintains a free 20% stake.
• Nyanzaga will add 200,000 ounces of gold a year by 2027.

Perseus Mining is tightening its grip on Tanzania’s mining future. The Australian-based company has broken ground on the Nyanzaga gold mine, a $523 million project set to reshape the country’s gold industry.

The Nyanzaga Mining Company Limited (NMCL), the firm overseeing construction, is 80% owned by Perseus Mining. Tanzania’s government retains a free 20% stake, ensuring the state gets a slice of future profits without upfront investment.

Perseus, headquartered in Perth, Australia, trades on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Institutional investors control 21.9% of the company’s shares.

Leading investors include Van Eck Associates Corp, which holds 7.55% of Perseus and invests in other African mining operations like Endeavour Mining. Australia’s Macquarie group, through its subsidiaries, owns roughly 4.3%. BlackRock Investment Management has secured a 1.94% stake.

Asset managers like Van Eck and BlackRock don’t directly own the shares but manage them for clients — from everyday savers to pension funds and global banks.

Meanwhile, nearly 77% of Perseus shares sit with unidentified shareholders, while individual investors account for another 0.8%. Combined, these stakeholders could sway Perseus’s boardroom decisions, directly impacting how Nyanzaga is run.

A cornerstone asset for Perseus

With construction underway since June 25, Perseus aims to produce an average of 200,000 ounces of gold annually at Nyanzaga starting in 2027. The mine is central to Perseus’s plan to ramp up annual gold output to between 515,000 and 535,000 ounces by 2030 — a leap from the expected 470,000–505,000 ounces this year.

This growth strategy also relies on Perseus’s African assets: Yaouré and Sissingué mines in Côte d’Ivoire, and the Edikan mine in Ghana. Together, these sites anchor the company’s push to dominate Africa’s gold market.

Aurel Sèdjro Houenou