Country in focus
exploration geologists to relook some of the historical gold mining
areas in Namibia, as well as to search for new discoveries. Several
exploration teams have set up base in the country.
Talking about mining to old-timers in the Erongo region always
elicits conversation about the great unknown gold and copper
deposits closer to the Angolan border. It might not be too far-
fetched, not only for gold and copper but also for cobalt, as Gecko’s
Opuwo cobalt project in the Kunene region proves. Results at this
project have been really promising, confirming sediment-hosted
copper-cobalt mineralisation at 15km of strike.
A company called Osino Gold Exploration is also doing good work
in the central and northern regions of Namibia, and their results, in
pursuit of gold deposits, have been positive.
New hope in Karibib
Meanwhile, exploration work is ongoing in the marble-and-lepidolite-
dominated region of Karibib, an area known for its gold deposits.
Namibia’s first major gold producer, Navachab, set up shop between
the hill, hummocks, and marble quarries of Karibib. Although the
mine is still in production today, it has faced a number of challenges,
and a new discovery might just revive hopes for Navachab, which at
one stage was operated by mining giant AngloGold Ashanti.
Navachab was originally owned by the Erongo Exploration and
Mining Company (70%), in partnership with the Metal Mining
Company of Canada (20%) and Rand Mines Exploration (10%).
AngloGold acquired a 70% interest in the mine in 1998, after
which it bought all the shares in 1999. In 2004, AngloGold and
Ashanti merged to form AngloGold Ashanti.
AngloGold Ashanti sold the mine to QKR, a private company
in which Namibia’s state-owned mining company Epangelo is a
partner. QKR still operates the mine today.
Hopes are high for a new gold discovery in Namibia, and all the
geologists whom African Mining spoke to, are confident that
with new technology, two or three new deposits might be on the
cards in Namibia soon. In addition to the areas mentioned above,
minor gold prospects have also been identified in the Windhoek,
Swakopmund, and Luderitz regions.
The black spots indicate tin deposits, as shown by Tim Marais, geologist
at AfriTin.
24 AFRICAN MINING JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2019
Challenges in Namibia
There are many exciting new projects in Namibia, and the country
certainly lends itself to develop as a major mining destination. The
roads in Namibia are first-rate, it boasts one of the best ports in
Africa (Walvis Bay is currently being expanded — read more on
page 40), the geology is fantastic, regulations favour exploration,
and electricity should not (for now, at least) be of concern. But like
most countries in the world, there are risks and challenges.
Davidson says that the other challenge facing mining operations in
the country is the disintegrating railroad infrastructure. “The country
has a brilliant port, good roads, and airports, but the rail network is
in serious need of refurbishment and upgrading to accommodate
the volumes that are required to be transported by the mining sector.
This has been one of the major challenges and has affected mines,
particularly in the central to northern regions,” she says.
Coetzee, the previous president of the Namibian Chamber of
Mines, says the biggest challenge for most mines in Namibia is the
fact that they are so remote. “They are not only remote from town,
but also remote from all the suppliers. This means they have to look
at the stockholding of critical spares very carefully, and also at the
lead times when ordering these spares,” he says. “Most of the spares
are sourced from South Africa, and the lead times are long. With
the business environment weak, suppliers are also not keeping
stock, so it becomes a logistics and supply chain challenge more
than a mining challenge,” he explains.
Commodity price fluctuations can wreak havoc with any country’s
mining industry, so that is certainly not a unique challenge for
Namibia. The persistently low uranium price has been a major
challenge for the country’s mining industry over the past five years,
which has hamstrung potential for uranium projects and existing
mines, except for Swakop Uranium’s Husab operation. Namibia is
blessed with huge uranium deposits, and if the price had been more
favourable over the past five years, the industry would be thriving today.
Namibia has four prominent uranium projects that are geared
to enter production once the uranium market recovers. For
these operations to be profitable, they require a price of USD65
per pound. In July last year (just before African Mining visited
Pegmatites at AfriTin’s project close to Uis. Pegmatites host tin ore and
in some regions, valuable lepidolites, from which lithium is extracted.
www.africanmining.co.za