Dissertation (MA Development Studies)The study assessed the factors contributing to poverty in small scale mining areas in Msalala District. Two wards namely Lunguya and Chela with its two mines in village of Nyangalata and Mwazimba were selected as sample sites. A sample of 87 small scale miners and 100 head of households from the two villages were involved in the study. The study consisted of mining officer from Kahama mineral office, one Village Executive Officers (VEO) from each village, one Ward Executive Officer (WEO) and one ward community development officer from each ward. Data collection methods included structured interview, semi-structured interview, focused group discussion and observations. Descriptive statistics including means and percentage were used to analyze data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Data was Cross tabulated to compare characteristics of small scale miner to establish key activities and technology used in study area. The mean was used to establish contribution of small scale mining and to determine the contribution of small scale mining to community in the study area. Results indicated that small scale mining activities were dominated by male with proportional of up to 87.4%. Majority (86.2%) of them with primary school education level and being born outside the district. Operational of mining activities is dominated by low technologies. Further results show that small scale mining contribution to poverty reduction is not significant. Major causes of poverty in mining area are small scale miner’s investment to their original places and poor utilization of resources and opportunity available by the local people. The study recommends that the government and other stakeholder should facilitate training, provision of loans to attract local community to engage in mining and related opportunities.