Modern Mining September 2015

feature COUNTRY FOCUS – NAMIBIA The new Tschudi copper mine and processing plant in northern Namibia is currently ramping up to an annual capacity of 17 000 tonnes of copper (photo: LogiMan).

Namibia’s mining sector becomes more diversified

While Namibia is not as dependent on mining as some other Southern African countries such as Botswana and Zambia, mining is nevertheless an important sector of the country’s economy, accounting for around 13 % of GDP and providing more than 17 000 people with employment. Once heavily reliant on diamonds, the industry has become more diverse in recent years, with uranium in particular already contributing strongly to the economy – with an even bigger contribution still to come. In fact, it has been estimated that the new Husab uraniummine, once in full production, will contribute 6 % of the country’s GDP. In this article, Modern Mining’s Arthur Tassell gives an overview of the Namibian industry and its prospects.

while other mines scaled back their opera- tions. Balancing this, however, has been the commissioning of three new mines over the past year, namely the Otjikoto gold mine, the Tschudi copper mine and the Sendelingsdrif diamond mine. Looking at Namibia’s mining industry by commodity, it is probably appropriate to start with diamonds, as the discovery of the first stone in 1908 set off a diamond rush along Namibia’s southern coast and put the coun- try on the map as a mining destination. Today diamond mining accounts for roughly half the value of Namibia’s mining industry by revenue with virtually all production in the hands of Namdeb, a descendant of Sir Ernest Oppenheimer’s Consolidated Diamond Mines of South West Africa (CDM), which was formed in 1920. CDM morphed into Namdeb , a joint venture between De Beers and the Namibian government, in 1994. Its main land-based operations are in Oranjemund although the company also operates satellite mines near Lüderitz and along the Orange River. In 2014 Namdeb Diamond Corp, respon- sible for mining Namdeb Holding’s land and shallow water offshore concessions, produced

T he Namibian mining sector has been no more immune to the global downturn than the mining industries in most other countries and – according to the Chamber of Mines of Namibia – contracted in 2014 by 4,6 %. During 2014 one mine – the Okorusu fluorspar mine – suspended operations (main- ly as a result of the orebody being exhausted)

26  MODERN MINING  September 2015