Namibia’s Largest Industry

The dugout Rossing Uranium Mine

During out time on the Namibian coast, our group visited Rossing Uranium, a mine owned by the Australian mining company, Rio Tinto. A comprehensive tour was given by our guide, Botha Ellis which provided insight into the mine, the various implemented procedures and community development that the organization is part of. It is the largest of its kind in the world and the third largest uranium mine. It provides important economic opportunities locally by employing 1,500 permanent workers with a total of 3,000 workers. For every direct job created, it is said to create 3 indirect jobs downstream. The final product of the operation is uranium oxide which is stored safely in drums and shifted to Walvis Bay. From there it travels to various countries around the world. The mine employs an initial blasting process, by using up to 1,000 tons of sulfuric acid daily. Every ton of rock supplies an average of 350g of low grade uranium. So far more than a billion tons of rock has been extracted and the mines life is officially set at 2023. However, it is expected to last for at least 50 years. Namibia is the 4^th largest extractor of uranium in the world after Canada, Kazakhstan and Australia. With the advent of new uranium finds in Namibia, various countries from around the world are coming to establish mines, including companies from Australia, Russia, Japan and China.

Botha Ellis and our group

Unfortunately enrichment processes are not possible here in Namibia due to the extensively high costs of the process, the legal ramifications and the lack of skilled people for the task. Currently only the U.S., Canada, Russia and China can support such facilities. The explosives are made from ammonium nitrates with the main ingredients being diesel and oil. About 1 ton of explosives are required for the blasting of one hole. 3 % of the mining profits are given to the community through local projects. One such program is the kids program, which we were fortunate to visit. The Mondesa Youth Opportunities is an after school program for up to 30 kids from grades 7-12 and teaches subjects in maths, English, life skills, music and manners. Students take classes in large shipping containers and it helps increase their success in future academic endeavors and gives them potential employment opportunities.

Mining truck

There are a number of times when the mine was intending to close down due to the increased world price of uranium. It has managed to continue and is now in a period of solid growth. Overall, my expectations were greatly broadened form this encounter. It is often easy to overlook the positives from the mining industry in light of the environmental concerns that arise. Rossing Uranium mine uses a lot of measures that are less harmful for the environment, but it is in no way a perfect system of attaining energy. Its benefits are seen in economic development and through community empowerment programs.