Written by Lienette Goosen Friday, 30 July 2010 09:27 Namibias...

Written by Lienette Goosen
Friday, 30 July 2010 09:27
Namibias rich uranium resources and the fast exploration pace set by Swakop Uranium, has turned Extract Resources promise of one of the brightest star on the uranium horizon into reality.
Australian-based Extract Resources, sole owner of Swakop Uranium, boasts an increase of more than 200% in share price since listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in 2002.
Based in Perth, Austra-lia, Extract Resources holds several exploration licenses over 2653 km in the Erongo region. Through Swakop Uranium, Extract Resources is poised to become a top five global uranium producer and in the process become a substantial contributor to the Namibian economy and its local communities.
With Swakop Uraniums Husab ore body south of the existing Rssing Mine seen as the most important uranium discovery of recent years, and first production envisaged in early 2014, Swakop Uranium is positioned to develop and construct the second largest uranium mine in the world.
This was confirmed by Extract Resources chairman, Stephan Galloway, in a recent report, emphasising that Extract is rapidly moving from an exploration company to becoming a world-class uranium producer.
With expected levels of 15Mlbs of uranium oxide per year, Extract is in a unique and privileged position, with the development of Husab on track to become one of the largest, stand-alone uranium mines in the world.
The eight-kilometre uranium mineralisation has been confirmed as the highest-grade, granite-hosted uranium deposit in Namibia to date, and one of the most significant discoveries in decades. Studies have indicated a maiden resource of 267 million pounds of uranium oxide at a grade of 488 parts per million.
Although we are not a big company with regard to employment, the Husab drilling campaign is probably the biggest in the world, says Norman Green, the chief executive officer of Swakop Uranium.
Extracts exploration programme has been intense. There are currently 17 drill rigs on site, down from 19 a couple of weeks ago. More than 300,000 metres have been drilled, using both RC rigs and diamond core rigs. Innovative techniques have also been used, most notably RadonX technology which detects radon gas which migrates to surface from buried uranium deposits.
This technology allows geologists to see through up to 120 metres of cover and has been put to good effect at Husab in helping to define exploration targets. It has also allowed the company to identify areas not underlain by uranium where planned infrastructure such as the process plant and tailings facility can be situated.
According to Green, Swakop Uranium is maintaining its quick pace in the exploration phase. This can mainly be ascribed to the excellent expertise and skills of our workforce and the support from our holding company.
Keeping the Husab project on its fast track, Green indicates that Swakop Uranium aims to run the application for a mining license and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in parallel. We intend to apply for the mining license subject to a positive outcome of the EIA. Thus we can shorten the period considerably without prejudicing quality.
The key objectives for Swakop Uranium in the next 6 to 12 months are to assemble an experienced project owners team to manage the project phase and appoint an appropriate study contractor to build on the initial work done to produce a definitive feasibility study.
This will incorporate the best technical and commercial options to develop the Husab ore body. We want to achieve these objectives by the end of 2010 and then commence with some of the early, low-cost and often forgotten preparation work required giving any project a flying start when we get the green light, added Green.
The draft EIA report is due to be completed in September 2010 and will be available for public and authority review thereafter.
We realise that there are challenges with regard to water, power and location. However, with regard to water we have several, eight to be specific, options. We are part of the Erongo Mining Water Users Group (EMWUG), which consists of representatives from NamWater and six mining and exploration companies.
We are also constantly aware that we are exploring and will be producing within the Namib Nau-kluft Park and thus, with the EIA, will focus on mitigating the environmental impacts the Husab project may have. Also with regard to transport we will look at the shorter and existing routes.
With 3000 to 4000 on-site contractors in the construction phase and about 1200 permanent employees when in full production, the question arises where all the workers are going to be housed.
We are not in the housing business and will certainly not dictate to our employees where they should live, but we are mindful of the scarcity of affordable housing in the region. We therefore have no other choice but to look at ways and means to address the problem, says Green.
While the obvious solution during the construction phase is to house the construction workers in a camp as close as possible to the site, accommodation for permanent employees poses a bigger challenge because of the housing shortage, especially in Swakopmund.
I was, however, encouraged by and impressed with the vision, plans and professionalism of the mayor and town council of other nearby towns such as Arandis. Arandis have pledged their full support and cooperation in trying to develop affordable housing projects"