Husab development picks up speed

The Husab Project Joint Venture, comprising AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, and Tenova Bateman, has been awarded a reimbursable contract for the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) of Swakop Uranium's Husab Project near Swakopmund in Namibia. The total contract value is N$822-million.

The contract follows the Husab Project owner's team and AMEC's completion in April 2011 of the definitive feasibility study for the Husab Project, which will be developed as a lowrisk, large-scale load-andhaul open pit mine, feeding ore to a conventional agitated acid leach process plant. According to a media release AMEC will act as lead on all Husab Project Joint Venture activities and will hold specific responsibility for project management and engineering, with responsibilities for procurement and construction to be shared with the joint venture partner.

Project construction will take approximately 34 months, with the mine expected to commence production towards the end of 2015.

"The award of this contract to the Husab Project Joint Venture not only underlines our capability and experience in the mining sector, but also demonstrates the breadth of AMEC's involvement across the nuclear fuel cycle," said Dr Hisham Mahmoud, AMEC's Group President, Growth Regions.

Garry Dryburgh, AMEC's Vice President, Asia Pacific, added: "We are committed to working together with Swakop Uranium to achieve their long-term vision by delivering this important project safely and sustainably."

Husab is the largest/ highest grade, granitehosted uranium deposit in Namibia. The reserve estimation shows that Husab has a potential mine life of more than 20 years, with uranium reserves of at least 280 million pounds. It is also the third largest uranium- only deposit in the world and has the potential to produce 15 million pounds per annum of uranium oxide, which is more than the total current uranium production of Namibia.