30 April 2008
Windhoek — ROESSING Uranium has received environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism for three of the mine's first-phase expansion projects.
These include the building of a sulphuric acid plant and a radiometric ore-sorting plant, and the mining of a small satellite ore body about one kilometre east of the current open pit.
According to Noël Mouton, Roessing's acting General Manager of Corporate Services, the project of major importance for the mine was the replacement of the old acid plant, which was closed down in 2000.
Since then the mine has been importing sulphuric acid through Walvis Bay and transporting it by train to the mine, where it is used in the mine's leaching process.
The new plant can produce 1 200 tonnes of acid a day and generate about 10 megawatts of electricity that could be used at the mine.
Mouton said the plant would save the mine a lot of money and reduce the risk of transporting and handling the highly corrosive acid.
He added that a number of other projects are being evaluated in a second-phase Social and Environmental Impact Assessment that covers the aspects of sulphur handling in Walvis Bay, an acid heap leach facility at the mine; and the expansion of the open pit to beyond 2026 with the establishment of a new waste and tailings disposal facilities.
"If all the projects go ahead, production could be expanded from the current 3 000 tonnes of uranium oxide per year to more than 4 000 tonnes," Mouton stated in a media release.
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