Namibia Green Lights Etango Uranium Mine

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Bannerman Mining Resources (Namibia) has been granted the go-ahead for a US$400 million uranium mining project in Namibia.

The company, part of Australian uranium mining company Bannerman Energy (Subiaco Western Australia), has been given a mining license by the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy for the Etango project and has awarded initial contracts for early works at the site. It's located in the Erongo uranium mining region, which hosts the operating Rossing, Langer Heinrich and Husab uranium mines. Contracts worth US$32 million have been awarded for a temporary water pipeline to ensure sufficient water is available onsite when the main earthworks and civil contracts commence and another for an access road. Namibia's identified uranium resources are about 5% of the world's known total, according to the World Nuclear Association. Those recoverable at up to US$130/kg are about 275,000 tonnes U (tU) while the Reasonably Assured Resources portion of this is 176,000-tU, accessible by open pit mining.

"The grant of the Etango Mining Licence represents a milestone event for Bannerman and our valued stakeholders," said Bannerman Managing Director Brandon Munro. "This moment is the culmination of our unwavering focus on Etango since our initial investment in 2006, all the while maintaining our conviction in the vital role of nuclear power for a better world. Etango is now fully permitted, enabling us to drive key project workstreams towards a Final Investment Decision in parallel with the ongoing strengthening in uranium market fundamentals. I am grateful to the Ministry of Mines and Energy for their ongoing commitment to Etango's Success."

Located 30 kilometers (km) southeast of Swakopmund, the mine possesses resources of 207 million pounds of contained U3O8 (100 parts per million (ppm)). It has been extensively explored over the last 15 years, Bannerman said, including detailed feasibility reports, the construction of the Etango Heap Leach Demonstration Plant, which ran as a pilot plant for five years until 2020, and in 2022 the publication of a Definitive Feasibility Study on Etango at 8 metric tonnes per annum.

Gavin Chamberlain, Bannerman's chief operating officer, added: "Our overall construction schedule remains on track, with this final project permit now complete and the Front End Engineering and Design work meeting our most optimistic expectations. We look forward to site establishment commencing in January, with early works construction proceeding in parallel with other workstreams over the next four to six months. I am delighted that we have awarded the first contracts on Etango to a Namibian construction services business. Namibia is an ideal place to build and operate a uranium mine."

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