[2] However, plans for large-scale gold mining was disrupted due the World War I. Tanzania, which was part of the German East Africa colony, was granted to Britain after the Treaty of Versailles.

[2] Geita regained further prominence in the mid to late 1990s when the Tanzanian government opened the mineral sector to foreign investment.

A number of medium to large-scale mining houses, including Ashanti and Anglo-American, conducted extensive exploration activities in the surrounding areas.

The most significant outcome of those activities was the construction of the Geita Gold Mine, now owned by AngloGold Ashanti.

Being subsistence miners, their activities are highly unregulated, resulting in dangerous mining practices and considerable environmental destruction, not the least of which are increased mercury pollution and extensive deforestation.