Tanzania is endowed with abundant and diverse occurrences of mineral deposits due to its favourable geological setting with lithostratigraphic and tectonic units that includes the Archaean Tanzania Craton, the Palaeoproterozoic Ubendian and Usagaran mobile belts, the Mesoproterozic Karagwe–Ankolean, the Neoproterozoic Mozambique belt, the Phanerozoic sediments of the Karoo, Coastal basin and Cenozoic volcanic rocks.

These mineral deposits include metallic minerals such as gold, iron, silver, copper, platinum, nickel and tin; gemstones such as diamonds, tanzanite, ruby, garnet, emerald, spinel, tourmaline, alexandrite and sapphire; industrial minerals such as kaolin, phosphate, lime, gypsum, diatomite, bentonite, vermiculite, salt and beach sands; building materials such as stone aggregates and sand; and energy minerals such as coal and uranium.