6
MODERN MINING
June 2014
MINING News
The permanent new road and bridge con-
necting Swakop Uranium’s Husab mine to
the Namibian road network were officially
opened by the Founding President of
Namibia, Dr Sam Nujoma, at an unveiling
ceremony on 7May 2014.The roadwas built
at a cost of N$180 million, which includes
the cost of the bridge at N$21 million.
The road from the B2 turn-off to the
Husabmine is 22 km long. It travels through
part of the well-known moon landscapes
and is said to be one of the most beautiful
drives in Namibia. The 160 m long bridge is
the longest built in Namibia since the coun-
try’s independence in 1990.
In his address at the opening, Dr
Nujoma said the investment in the Husab
mine, which constituted the largest of its
kind in Namibia, was clear testimony to the
strong bond of friendship and solidarity
that existed between China and Namibia.
He said he viewed the project as“a catalyst
to enhance socio-economic development
for the benefit of the communities in this
region and our country as a whole.”
The Chinese ambassador to Namibia,
Husab uranium project notches up milestones
Xin Shunkang, pointed out that the total
investment in the Husab project exceeded
five billion US dollars, making it the largest
investment made by China in Africa to date.
On the day after the opening of the road
and bridge, mining operations at Husab
were officially inaugurated by Namibia’s
President, Hifikepunye Pohamba, who
headed a guest list of VIPs, which included
Dr Nujoma, Minister of Mines & Energy
Isaak Katali, Ambassador Shunkang, and
He Yu, Chairman of China General Nuclear
Power Group (CGN), which is the majority
shareholder in the mine.
Located about 76 km by road from
the coastal town of Swakopmund, Husab
is due to be in production by the end of
2015 and will reach nameplate production
by 2017.
The project officially kicked off on 18
April last year with a ground-breaking cer-
emony on the mine site, with the guests at
the event including Minister Katali.
As
Modern Mining
reported last month,
the first blast on the project site was deto-
nated on 12 March this year. The plan is to
ensure that a run-of-mine (ROM) stockpile
will be ready for processing on completion
of construction of the processing plant.
The mine and process plant are designed
to produce 15 million pounds of uranium
oxide a year.
Swakop Uranium has also confirmed
plans to build a 500 000 tonne sulphuric
acid plant at the mine. Sulphuric acid is a
key chemical used to recover uranium in
an orebody. Construction of the sulphuric
acid plant will start in the second quarter
of 2014. The Husab mine is expected to uti-
lise all the sulphuric acid produced at the
envisaged plant. Additional acid, if needed,
will be imported or sourced locally.
Swakop Uranium has started filling
permanent positions well in advance of
the opening of the mine as part of the
Operational Readiness Programme. This
will ensure that staff will be sufficiently
trained and ready to hit the ground run-
ning once the mine enters production.
Based on the definitive feasibility study
for the project, Husab is being developed
as a low-risk, conventional, large-scale
load-and-haul open pit mine, feeding ore
to a conventional agitated acid leach pro-
cess plant. The mine has a potential life of
more than 20 years.
Swakop Uranium will have an annual
turnover of about N$10-billion once the
Husabmine is in full production. The Husab
project will furthermore contribute 5 % to
Namibia’s GDP and 20 % to the country’s
merchandise exports and will generate up
to N$1 700 million per year in Government
revenue.
It will create more than 6 000 temporary
jobs during construction and about 1 600
permanent operational job opportunities.
This will increase the number of people
employed in Namibia's mining sector by
approximately 17 %.
About to cut the ribbon at the official opening of the road and bridge are (from left) the Erongo Regional
Governor Cleophas Mutjavikua, CGN Group Chairman He Yu, the Founding President of Namibia, Dr
Sam Nujoma, and the Chinese Ambassador to Namibia, Xin Shunkang (photo: Swakop Uranium).
Some of the massive Komatsu 960E haul trucks to be deployed at Husab were on display at the recent function celebrating the start of mining operations
(photo: Swakop Uranium).
