'Hereandnow' More on this water issue,currently the two operating mines(Rossing and Langer Heinrich)are using ground water and have done since they started.The Namibian gov' wants to preserve this resource that's why the new desal builds.For MEY I can't see water being an issue and they would have factored in costings in their PFS.
Just some more reading material if you need convincing:
Namibia: Langer Heinrich Needs More Water
Adam Hartman
12 April 2011
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LANGER Heinrich Mine (LHM) is in the process of expanding its operations and will need an additional five million cubic metres of water a year; more than double its current consumption, bringing the total amount of water the mine will need by 2014 to about seven million cubic metres per year.
The Erongo region currently consumes about 12 million cubic metres of water annually, with Walvis Bay accounting for five million cubic metres; Rio Tinto's R?ssing Uranium mine 3,5 million cubic metres; and Swakopmund three million cubic metres. Most of the water is sourced from the Kuiseb and Omdel water sources.
Areva's Trekkopje Mine will eventually require about 16 million cubic metres of water per year once its 'maxi' plant is completed in 2013. This mine is however not a burden to the local water resources as it gets its water supply from the Erongo Desalination Plant, north of Wlotzkasbaken.
During a recent public meeting for LHM's proposed stage 4 expansion project held in Swakopmund, the mine's environmental specialist, Werner Petrick, admitted that this expansion could not take place without desalinated water, adding that LHM was already in talks with NamWater about getting desalinated water from the national bulk water utility.
NamWater is mulling over its own desalination plant which may be capable of producing more than 50 million cubic metres of potable water per year. It is proposed to be located near Swakopmund and will serve as the main water supply for Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, as well as the uranium mines.
LHM started its operations in 2006, and is currently realising its third stage expansion project, which will be completed towards the third quarter of this year and would require up to 2.25 million cubic metres of water per year. It also has a permit from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry to extract up to 500 000 cubic metres per year from the Swakop River, but extracts less than half of this at the moment. Relevant Links
Southern Africa Namibia Water Environment
Studies on the fourth stage is now in progress. The fourth phase will include a new water pipeline that will be parallel to the existing pipeline, while the existing power supply to the mine will also be upgraded to a new 132kV line, after which the existing 66kV line will be decommissioned. Other components to this project include a new run of mine pad and primary crusher, ore sorting facility; alkaline leaching and reticulation circuits, amongst others.
LHM, which is situated in the Namib-Naukluft Park, about 80km east of Swakopmund, also plans to convert the exclusive prospective licence area, immediately west of the current mining licence area, into a mining licence. This will increase the size of the LHM from about 47 square kilometres to about 80 square kilometres. The expansion project will allow LHM to increase its mining rate from 30 million tonnes of ore per year to 45 million tonnes.
Construction of the various components of the expansion project is planned to begin by mid-2012, and will continue for about two years.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201104180670.html
and
CONSERVATION OF SCARCE WATER RESOURCES AT R?SSING URANIUM MINE Rainer Schneeweiss and Sandra M?ller R?ssing Uranium Ltd. Introduction The R?ssing Uranium Mine is located approximately 65 km inland from the coast of Namibia in southern Africa (Figure 1). The mine is situated in the Namib Desert, which experiences low and erratic rainfall, high temperatures, and strong seasonal winds resulting in high evaporation rates. Currently the mining and milling process requires 2.4 million m3 of fresh water per year. This water is bought from the Namibian parastatal bulk water supplier who abstracts it from two wellfields in the ephemeral Omaruru and Kuiseb rivers (Figure 2). The mine and the growing coastal towns of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Henties Bay and Arandis share these water resources of which the mine uses about 25%. The limited and partly non-renewable potable water resources have been put under increasing pressure during the last decade. Recent total abstraction rates from the aquifers are not sustainable in the long term due to low recharge in the rivers under the present climatic conditions. The fact that the aquifers are being mined has been recognized for a number of years and initiatives to manage demand and conserve the resources have been introduced by the Mine, the Municipalities and the water supplier. Construction of a seawater desalination plant has been proposed by the water supplier to augment the groundwater resources. R?ssing Uranium Ltd. has contributed to the water conservation initiatives by: ? Implementing water recycling at the mine ? Minimising high evaporative water losses ? Using alternative lower quality water sources ? Creating awareness to conserve water ? Cooperating with local and regional authorities in preparation for seawater desalination.
http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G02461.pdf
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