Geological Survey of Tanzania (GST) was established as a Government Executive Agency in October 2005 under The Executive Agency Act No. 30, [CAP 245] of 1997, establishment order, 2005, Government notice no: 418 published on 9/12/2005.

In July 2017, the Government of Tanzania amended the Mining Act of 2010 through the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, No. 7 of 2017. Through the amendment, new functions were initiated on top of the other functions of GST described by the Mining Act 2010.

GST is administered by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is assisted by four Directors of the Geological Services Directorate, National Geo-scientific and Minerals Database Directorate, Laboratory Services and Export Permit Directorate and Business Support Services Directorate. The Directors are assisted by ten Section Managers.

In line with the existing Government Procedures there are four Units operating directly under the CEO and these are Internal Audit, Information, procurement, management and legal services. There is also a Board which monitors performance of GST and provides directives and advices accordingly. At present, GST has 145 staff where 66% are professional and technical staff with different geoscientific specialization in earth sciences. This gives GST a strong human resource base to execute its duties.