CHAPTER 128
THE ASSAYERS ACT
[PRINCIPAL LEGISLATION]
Arrangement of Sections
Section Title
Interpretation.
1. Short title.
2.
3. Prohibition on assaying except under authority of licence.
4. Provisions relating to assayers’ licences.
5. General assayer’s licence.
6. Restricted assayer’s licence.
7. Establishment of Assayers Licensing Board.
8. Constitution of Board and conduct of business, etc.
9. Register to be kept by Board.
10. Cancellation and suspension of assayers’ licences.
11. List of registered assayers to be published in Gazette.
12. Evidence.
13. Saving.
14. Penalty.
15. Rules.
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©2025 Government of Tanzania. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed without permission of OAG. CHAPTER 128
THE ASSAYERS ACT
An Act to provide for the licensing and registration of assayers, to regulate
the practice of assaying and for related purposes.
[6th October, 1944]
Ord. No.
12 of 1944
GN. No.
478 of 1962
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Assayers Act.
Interpretation
2. In this Act, unless the context requires otherwise-
“assaying” means the determination of the proportion of the
mineral constituents of any ore or mineral substance; and
“assayer” shall be construed accordingly;
“Board” means the Assayers Licensing Board established
under section 7 of this Act;
“mineral constituent” means any chemical element,
compound or radical in any ore or mineral substance;
“Minister” means the Minister responsible for commerce
and industry.
Prohibition on
assaying except
under authority
of licence
3. Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person shall not
engage in, or hold himself out as prepared to engage in, the
practice of assaying for reward unless he is the holder of an
assayer’s licence issued by the Board under this Act authorising
him to do so.
Provisions
relating to
assayers’ licences
4.–(1) Assayers’ licences shall be of two kinds, namely-
(a) a general assayer’s licence; and
(b) a restricted assayer’s licence.
(2) Application for an assayer’s licence shall be made to the
Board and shall be in any form which may be prescribed.
(3) The fee for an assayer’s licence shall be such amount as
may be prescribed and shall accompany the application.
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[CAP. 128 R.E. 2023]
(4) Assayers’ licences shall expire on the thirty-first day of
December next following the date of issue:
Provided that, the licences may be renewed upon payment
of the prescribed fee for subsequent periods of twelve months.
(5) Where the holder of an assayer’s licence which expires
on the thirty-first day of December fails to make application to
the Board within thirty days from the date for a renewal of the
said licence, he shall be liable by the direction of the Board to
have his name removed from the register.
(6) Where the name of the holder of an assayer’s licence is
removed from the register under subsection (5) of this section,
the Board may, for good cause shown and upon payment of
the prescribed fee, cause his name to be restored to the register.
(7) The Board may, upon payment of the prescribed fee,
issue a duplicate of an assayer’s licence which is lost, stolen or
destroyed.
General assayer’s
licence
5.–(1) A general assayer’s licence shall authorise its holder to
practise for reward assaying for all minerals constituents.
(2) A general assayer’s licence shall be issued to the applicant
if he satisfies the Board that-
(a) he has attained the age of twenty-one years; and
(b) by reason of his academic qualifications or professional
experience, he is competent to practise assaying for all
mineral constituents.
(3) For the purpose of satisfying itself as to the academic
qualifications or professional experience of the applicant, the
Board may require him to present himself for an examination
to be conducted by the Board in the subjects and in the manner
which it shall consider necessary.
Restricted
assayer’s licence
6.–(1) A restricted assayer’s licence shall authorise its holder
to practise for reward assaying for the mineral constituents
which are specified in that licence.
(2) A restricted assayer’s licence shall be issued to
the applicant if he satisfies the Board that his academic
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[CAP. 128 R.E. 2023]
qualifications are such as to warrant the issue of the licence or
that he has been actually engaged in the practice of assaying for
a restricted assayer’s licence for a period of at least three years
and that by reason of that practice, he has acquired satisfactory
knowledge of the practice of the assaying.
(3) Upon written application being made to the Board by
the holder of a restricted assayer’s licence and upon payment
of the prescribed fees, the Board may, if it is satisfied as to the
competence of the applicant, vary the licence so as to include
additional mineral constituents in respect of which the holder
of that licence desires to practise assaying for reward.
(4) For the purpose of satisfying itself as to the qualifications
of the applicant, the Board may require him to present himself
for an examination to be conducted by the Board in the subjects
and in the manner which it shall consider necessary.
Establishment
of Assayers
Licensing Board
7.–(1) There is hereby established a Board which shall be
known as the Assayers Licensing Board.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Board to issue licences to
assayers and generally to carry out the purposes of this Act
and rules made under it.
Constitution
of Board and
conduct of
business, etc.
Cap 312 s. 2;
GN. No.
478 of 1962
8.–(1) The members of the Board shall be the Commissioner
for Mines, who shall be ex-officio chairman of the Board, and
not less tha ointed from time to time by the Minister as he may
think fit, and in the absence of the chairman, the remaining
members of the Board shall elect one of their number to act as
chairman.
(2) The Board may make rules governing its own procedure,
including quorum, and may appoint a person to be secretary
to the Board.
(3) The Board may appoint suitable persons as examiners
on any terms which it thinks fit for the purpose of conducting
any examination held under subsection (3) of section 5 or
subsection (4) of section 6 of this Act.
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[CAP. 128 R.E. 2023]
Register to be
kept by Board
Cancellation and
suspension of
assayers’ licences
GN. No.
478 of 1962
(4) Notice of all appointments to the Board shall be
published in the Gazette.
9.–(1) The Board shall keep in such form and in such manner
as may be prescribed a register to be known as the “Register of
Assayers”, in this Act referred to as the register, in which shall
be entered-
(a) the names of all persons to whom an assayer’s licence is
issued under this Act; and
(b) the names of assayers in the service of the Government
whose qualifications would, in the opinion of the Board,
warrant the issue to them of a general assayer’s licence
or a restricted assayer’s licence, and such assayers shall
be known as Government assayers.
(2) Every person whose name is entered in the register under
subsection (1) of this section shall be known as a registered
assayer.
(3) The name of any assayer whose licence is cancelled
under section 10 of this Act shall be removed from the
register, and where an assayer’s licence is suspended under
the said section, an appropriate entry shall be made in the
register.
10.–(1) The Board may after due inquiry make an order
cancelling an assayer’s licence issued under this Act or may
make an order suspending such licence for a period not
exceeding three years, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the
Board that the holder thereof has been guilty of negligence or
professional misconduct in the course of practising assaying.
The term “professional misconduct” includes any of the
following acts or omissions-
(a) willfully or negligently signing an assay certificate
which is false in any material particular with knowledge
of its falsity;
(b) making, or permitting to be made under his supervision,
any assay without reasonable care and attention; or
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[CAP. 128 R.E. 2023]
(c) obtaining or attempting to obtain by any false
representation an assayer’s licence which may be issued
under this Act:
Provided that, the Board shall not cancel or suspend an
assayer’s licence without first giving the holder an opportunity
of showing cause, either personally or by advocate, why the
licence should not be cancelled or suspended.
(2) The holder of an assayer’s licence which is cancelled or
suspended by order of the Board may appeal to the Minister
against that order within one month from the date of the order
and the decision of the Minister shall be final.
(3) The holder of any assayer’s licence which has been
cancelled or suspended shall surrender the licence to the Board
within one month from the date of the order of cancellation or
suspension.
(4) The Board may at any time revoke any cancellation or
suspension of any assayer’s licence cancelled or suspended
under this section, provided that any decision made by the
Minister confirming the cancellation or suspension of an
assayer’s licence shall not be varied without the consent of the
Minister.
List of registered
assayers to be
published in
Gazette
11. The Board shall from time to time publish in the Gazette a
list of all registered assayers and shall also notify in like manner
any cancellation or suspension of an assayer’s licence.
Evidence
12. An assay certificate purporting to be signed by a
Government assayer or by the holder of a general assayer’s
licence without further proof in any court shall be prima facie
evidence of the facts stated there:
Provided that, the court may, in its discretion, summon as a
witness, the assayer who signed the certificate.
Saving
13. Nothing in this Act shall require the following persons to
be licensed under this Act, namely-
(a) a Government assayer; and
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[CAP. 128 R.E. 2023]
Penalty
Rules
GN. No.
478 of 1962
(b) a person employed as an assayer who does not engage
in, or who does not hold himself out as prepared to
engage in, the practice of assaying for reward for any
person other than his employer.
14. A person who contravenes any of the provisions of this Act
or of any rules made under section 15 of this Act commits an
offence and on conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding
one thousand shillings.
15. The Minister may make rules-
(a) for prescribing anything which is required to be, or
which may be, prescribed under this Act;
(b) for prescribing the procedure to be followed by the
Board in conducting an inquiry into any matter under
section 10 of this Act;
(c) generally for the better carrying out of the provisions of
this Act.
467
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