This is not a story
about extraction.
It's about staying.
Founded in Kizumbi in 2012 with a single non-negotiable: no family will be displaced. Thirteen years on, we're still keeping that promise.
How we got here
Geologist Juma Mwinyi takes a soil sample near Kizumbi. Assay returns 2.3 g/t gold. He refuses to sell to a foreign major.
Mlango Gold founded with one condition: no family will be displaced. Written into the founding agreement.
First gold pour. Production: 32,000 oz. The team marks the occasion quietly — no press release.
A tailings pipe leaks 200 m³. We fail to report it for three days. We were wrong. The 48-hour incident policy is born that same week.
124,000 oz produced. Zero regulatory fines. Community trust payments total $2.1 million. 11 villages, 1,400 jobs.
The founding condition
"No family will be displaced. That's not a PR line — it's clause 3 of our founding agreement, signed before a single drill turned."
License to operate
4% royalty to the Tanzanian government plus a direct agreement with 11 surrounding villages: 1.5% of revenue — not profit — goes into a community trust annually. The villages choose the projects. Not us.
The people who run it
Mary Nkya
Managing Director
Started as a field assistant in 2012. Knows every shift supervisor by name. Has never accepted a meeting that conflicts with the 5:30 safety briefing.
Juma Mwinyi
Head Geologist
Found the ore body in 2011. Still takes core samples every Friday. "You can't manage what you don't touch."
Sarah Mushi
Community Relations
Grew up in Kizumbi. Mediates between the mine and 11 villages. Has been offered jobs at three other mining companies. Still here.
David Omondi
Safety Lead
Former deep-sea diver. Brought underwater inspection discipline to underground mining. Answers every near-miss report personally.
Our hardest lesson
In 2018, a tailings pipe leaked 200 cubic metres of slurry into a seasonal stream. It was contained within 6 hours, and no one was harmed. But we didn't report it publicly for three days. We were wrong.
Now we publish all environmental incidents within 48 hours — even minor exceedances. Not because we're required to. Because we made a commitment we broke, and we don't intend to repeat it.
Read our public incident register →
Kizumbi watershed, monitored since 2018
Certifications (with context)
LBMA Responsible Gold
We audit every gram from rock to bar. Conflict gold is not an abstract concern here — it's a clause in every supply contract we sign.
ISO 14001
Not a badge on a wall. Our environmental management system is reviewed quarterly by an independent Tanzanian firm. We share the full report.
Fairmined
One of only three mines in Africa certified. It means our artisanal partners receive a fair premium — above spot price — for every gram they produce.