Modern Mining September 2015

feature COUNTRY FOCUS – NAMIBIA The Langer Heinrich ura- niummine, which produced just over 5 Mlb (roughly 2 268 tonnes) of uranium oxide in the year to 30 June 2015 (photo: Paladin Energy).

when operations started at Langer Heinrich to the south-east of Rössing. Developed by Australia’s Paladin Energy (although partly owned today by China National Nuclear Corp, which has a 25 % stake), Langer Heinrich is said to be the lowest-cost open-pit uranium mine in the world. Since being commissioned, it has been expanded twice, taking its capacity to well over 5 Mlb/a, and a fourth expansion is planned once uranium prices recover suffi- ciently. In the year to 30 June 2015, the mine produced just over 5 Mlb (roughly 2 268 tonnes) of uranium oxide, bigger than the fig- ure for Rössing. Between them, Rössing and Langer Heinrich accounted for 5,8 % of world uranium produc- tion in 2014, making Namibia the world’s fifth biggest producer behind Kazakhstan (40,64 % of the total), Canada (15,77 %), Australia (9,12 %) and Niger (7,99 %) but ahead of Russia (5,35 %) and Uzbekistan (4,29 %). The country is expected to lift its ranking once the new US$2 billion Husab mine, which has a design capacity of 15 million pounds (6 800 tonnes) of uranium oxide a year, enters full production. A large-scale, open-pit mine, Husab is employing a formidable earthmoving fleet including three giant Cat 7495 electric rope shovels. It is being developed by Swakop Uranium, which in turn is controlled by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holdings Company Limited (CGNPC) and the China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund). The plant is due to start commissioning later this year with first production expected in 2016 and full pro- duction being attained in 2017.

The area to the east of Swakopmund is also host to a fourth mine, Areva’s Trekkopje , which was at an advanced stage of develop- ment (with a pilot phase in operation) when a decision was taken to mothball it in 2012 as a result of the downward trend in the uranium price. Designed as a low-grade, open pit opera- tion and with processing (unusually) via an alkaline leach process, Trekkopje will have the capacity to produce up to 3 200 t/a of U 3 O 8 . Interestingly, Namibia’s first desalination plant was built to supply water to the mine and was opened in 2010. No overview of uranium in Namibia would be complete without at least mentioning the fact that there is a host of uranium projects at various stages of development in the country’s ‘uranium belt’ to the east of Swakopmund, among them Bannerman’s Etango project, Marenica Energy’s Marenica project and Forsys Metals’ Norasa project. Bannerman appears to be the most active of the development stage companies with a very comprehensive DFS in place and with a heap leach demonstra- tion plant having recently been successfully completed on site. If it does eventually go into construction, Etango will be a very big mine. The DFS envisages that the project will produce 7-9 Mlb U 3 O 8 per year for the first five years and 6-8 Mlb U 3 O 8 per year thereafter. Turning to copper, Namibia is only a minor producer, with the Tsumeb and Kombat mines long closed. All of the country’s primary cop- per production is fromWeatherly International, whose shares trade on London’s AIM. Earlier this year, Weatherly commissioned its Tschudi

28  MODERN MINING  September 2015