An environmental clearance certificate (ECC) was given to Headspring Investments, the parent company of Uranium One, which is the company exploring for uranium and rare earth minerals in the Omaheke region.
The clearance has been issued despite the mining company being involved in disputes with local farmers and some government agencies.
The ECC refers to a document issued by government authorities to allow a proposed project to proceed to the next stage of project planning. The mentioned ECC was granted by the environment ministry, and is valid from 10 October 2023 until 10 October 2026 to construct a field laboratory where its main field operations are, on farm Tripoli in the Omaheke region.
Uranium One’s proposed mining method irked agriculture, water and land reform minister Calle Schlettwein, who is unwavering in his stance that no uranium mining would be approved to safeguard scarce groundwater resources in the vicinity.
The method expected to be used is known as the in-situ leach (ISL) mining method. This method is defined as the extraction of uranium from the host sandstone by chemical solutions, resulting in the recovery of uranium at the surface.
At the time, Schlettwein demanded scientific data to show no contamination of underground water would occur if Uranium One was permitted to continue with its exploration.
Headspring Investment earlier this year approached the High Court on the matter, where 39 parties are cited as respondents. Through Headspring, Uranium One wants the court to set aside the decision by the agriculture and water ministry to refuse to issue an exploration drilling permit.
Agriculture ministry spokesperson Jona Musheko, told this publication when approached for an update that there is a report by the ministerial committee (from all affected ministries), which is still being discussed. Only after this committee is done will the necessary steps be taken as per the instructions from higher offices.
Commenting on the ECC, director of mining projects at Uranium One Kirill Egorov-Kirillov said the issuance of this ECC is a very positive step in the right direction for the company.
“All due processes regarding the environmental impact assessments (EIA) were followed, and the company has once again illustrated that it is following all of Namibia’s laws, rules and regulations. I want to thank the relevant ministry which displayed the trust in us, and the way we are conforming to laws, rules and regulations, to issue the ECC to us”, Egorov-Kirillov said.
He noted that having a field laboratory will be of significant benefit to Uranium One, as it will be much cheaper and faster to examine core samples and determine where the uranium ore body is situated, as well as the exact grade of the uranium ore. This means the exploration results will be available faster than sending samples away for analysis, which means the processes can be expedited.
Headspring’s operations have been on halt now for almost a year after the company stated it has thus far invested N$850 million on exploration processes. -mndjavera@nepc.com.na