Uranium, Namibia's sleeping giant

The Skorpion Zinc mine has been given a new lease on life. Chief executive officer Deshnee Naidoo says that since Vedanta bought the mine in 2011, extending its lifespan has been paramount.When Skorpion started in the late 1990s it was built to last only 15 years. “To find a way to mine economically, we had to get revenue while stripping out the waste,” she said. During a two-month shut down for repairs and maintenance the company spent US$15 million on the plant and infrastructure, “to get it into shape”. At the same time the global economic slowdown hit the price of zinc hard. Naidoo and new general manager Irvinne Simataa developed a strategy to keep the mine going. With only 3.5 years of open pit minable resources, they needed to look underground. Skorpion's ore body is open at depth and an extensive drilling programme is underway. The company intends to drill 17 000 metres this year, and another 50 000 metres next year. They also want to upgrade processing capacity. With a bigger refiner, “we can continue to explore because we know we have the capacity,” she said. Vedanta plans to turn the Skorpion plant into Africa's first full-scale zinc refinery where production from its new Gamsberg project in the Northern Cape will also be trucked in for processing. But first the mining must continue, and at an economically profitable rate. As Naidoo put it, “our future at Skorpion is dependent on how quick Irvinne can mine.” Adding to the problem is the fact that the pit has sunk below the waterline. “I am taking out 800 cubic metres of water a day,” Simataa said. “I need a bigger fleet. I need backhoes instead of frontloaders due to the water. I need to move almost double the tonnage per year,” he said. At least N$100 million investement is needed. “The dilemma was that we also needed to double the people and double the equipment,” Simataa explained. “The solution was to get in a skilled contractor with the people, equipment and ability to deliver,” he said. That solution is Basil Read. Currently doing similar work at Tschudi, Basil Read has the capacity to mine for N$1 per tonne, “saving money, saving costs, but also de-risking,” Naidoo explained. “With them we have created life where there shouldn't have been,” she said.

Uranium, Namibia's sleeping giant

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Republikein 2025-05-01

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Uranium, Namibia's sleeping giant

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