Some good points. And who the Tanzanian government prefer will...

Some good points.

And who the Tanzanian government prefer will be significant, since they will grant all approvals.

We have seen in other African locations recently, projects being stalled because the government prefers someone other than the company's preference.

This is because, often with a government, other issues come into play, not the least of which sometimes involves international politics, for instance, how the Russians are locking down gold mines in West Africa in return for military hardware and security troops.

This could get quite convoluted here, and become a lengthy process before things are sorted out.
My sense is also that SVM need to come back quickly with a substantially raised offer in order to kill things off, something in the order of a 30 cent cash consideration.

The Chinese government talking with the Tanzanian government behind the scenes would make this interesting, I wonder what the diplomatic channels between the two are like.

From Google, I read that Chinese investment in Tanzania has grown (in their own words) remarkably large, providing enormous funds for such industries as manufacturing and agriculture, as well as mining.

It's called the "Chinese-Tanzania Belt and Road Co-operation" agreements, and they are large.

It makes it look like the Chinese government, and/or the Party, might have been behind encouraging SVM to bid for a mine in Tanzania as part of this international country agreement. China's investment in Tanzania has now reached $4 billion per year, and the Chinese are being encouraged to invest there.

So, there are other factors at play here, potentially involving some political levering behind the scenes.

This has a long way to play out, I believe.

https://m.geidco.org.cn/pcarticle/1166

Gw