In conversation
with
Feature
How different is uranium mining compared to gold mining?
The mining side of the operation and the mining methods are the
same: Defining the ore body through grade control, depending on
the level of selectivity, delineating the ore and the waste and then
mining, which entails traditional drilling and blasting, developing
the benches based on the type of equipment, and load and haul to
the ore stockpiles at the crusher or waste dumps.
Were all the previous mines you managed opencast mines?
Yes, they were all opencast mines; however, at Geita, we
managed to open two underground mines as part of AngloGold
Ashanti’s growth strategy. Geita has now actually transitioned
into underground mining, and most of their ore is now sourced
from underground operations.
The uranium price has been in the doldrums, with many
uranium mines in Namibia struggling to keep head above
water; yet, Husab is expanding. How did the mine manage
to do that?
The general environment is difficult at the moment and most
other mines are scaling down or going on care and maintenance.
In contrast, Husab is on a growth trajectory. The reason, of
course, is that the main shareholder actually consumes the
product, so that’s a big advantage. Husab has an offtake
shareholder that is a nuclear generation company.
Am I right in saying that Husab now produces the most
uranium in Namibia?
Yes, that’s right. Furthermore, the mine is still ramping up. By
the end of 2018 [when this article was written], we forecast to
produce half of our net capacity, so we are in the region of about
3 000 tons (t) U3O8 (uranium oxide), which is what we package
as final product for further processing.
How much will you be producing at full design capacity?
In 2018, we expect to produce between 3 000 and 3 500 tons,
eventually ramping up our nameplate capacity, which is close to
6000 tonnes per annum (tpa).
When will nameplate capacity be reached?
Projections are that we will reach nameplate capacity towards
the end of 2019 into 2020. Currently we are still optimising and
addressing some of the bottlenecks we have identified in the
plant design.
When did the mine start producing uranium?
The first uranium was produced on 31 December 2016, more
than two years ago.
How many workers were involved in the construction of Husab?
In the construction stage, we employed more than 5 000 people.
But we have obviously moved into operational stage, so currently,
Swakop Uranium has 1 600 permanent staff on their payroll,
and we also use an additional 500 or so contractors. With 2 100
people working on the mine, Swakop Uranium can be regarded as
the single biggest employer in the Namibian mining industry.
www.africanmining.co.za
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