Mantra Sponsors Students for Training

Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)

18 May 2011

MANTRA Tanzania Limited which undertakes a uranium project in Namtumbo District, Ruvuma Region has sponsored six students from the area to attend vocational training in Moshi.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday during a send-off for the six students, the Company’s Organizational Capability Manager, Mr Kevin Flynn said that the package is worth over 2,000 US dollars (about 3m/-) per student per year.

He said the course that will take between two and three years will be conducted at the Vocational Education Training Authority (VETA), Moshi campus.

He said the students, two girls and the rest boys were selected from a group of over 100 applicants picked by the District Education Office in Namtumbo.

They are Jerome Fuse, Diana Njogopa, Ally Mbanga, Doris Komba, Hamisi Issa and Meinrad Mbena.

Mr Flynn added that the scholarship programme is conducted through an initiative called Integrated Mining Technical Training (IMTT) adopted by the Tanzania Chamber of Mines and Energy (TCME) in 2009.

He said that the idea is to train locals to become qualified mining experts and that on completion, the students will be employed by the company.

“As part of our corporate social responsibility, we have the obligation to help these young boys and girls to become part of our operations”, he said.

He said the course curriculum was special for electrical, mechanics, fitters, water engineers and welders.

“TCME acquired a licence from South Africa to use their curriculum at the college. This means that on completion, the students will be awarded certificates that could earn them a job in any mining company in Tanzania and South Africa”, he said.

At the college, he said, the students will undergo an intensive three-month theory to be followed by another three months for workshop training and finally on job training at Mines Agriculture and Construction Services (MACS) company based in Dar es Salaam.

However, he said that the contract binds the students to work with Mantra Tanzania on completion of their course.

On his part, A Member of Parliament for Namtumbo constituency who also attended the send off party, Mr Vita Kawawa, urged the students to work hard and become role models for other youth in the area.

“It’s only through hard work you can succeed in your dream of becoming engineers and pilots”, he said.

Mantra Resources Limited is an emerging uranium company and dual listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (MRU) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (MRL) in Canada.

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