WALVIS BAY – The leach tank failure that occurred last December at Rössing Uranium Mine a few kilometres outside Arandis will most likely have a negative impact on the company’s production targets and its financial results in 2014.
This is according to the mine’s Managing Director, Werner Duvenhage, who says the company’s management is currently reviewing plans for 2014 after which they would be able to determine their 2013 production, as well as the financial standing of the company. Last year Rössing also laid off 276 employees as part of a major organisational restructuring process, after it recorded a second successive operational loss of N$474 million during the last financial year. The latest announcement by the company comes after one of 12 leach tanks in the processing plant at Rössing failed and a leakage was discovered on December 3, 2013 from the leaching tanks. Leaching is a step in the production of uranium oxide where the milled ore is processed in a sulphuric acid solution. The product of leaching is a pulp, containing suspended sand and slime, before it is washed to remove traces of the uranium-bearing solution. The company had channelled the spilled slime in trenches and contained it in a holding tank to be recycled. The accident brought some operations at the mine to a standstill which will most likely influence the company’s production targets. Rössing is working closely with the relevant regulatory authorities in Namibia in the management of the incident. Apart from minor first aid administered at the scene, no employees sustained serious injuries. However, Duvenhage indicated in a statement last week Friday that one of two modules in its leaching process has been successfully brought back into service.
“The mine will be recommencing its operations, albeit at a reduced rate, over the next couple of days. The processing plant is expected to be back to normal operations during the current quarter of this year,” Duvenhage explained. He said a process of rigorous inspections, repairs, reviews were followed before final approval from Rössing’s Board of Directors was received to restart operations. “The services of various specialists were used during the inspection, repair and review process. Rössing also commissioned a full investigation into the leach tank incident at the mine to determine the exact cause,” he said. He says initial findings indicate that the tank failure was due to localised external corrosion of the tank.
The tank has since been safely removed and other tanks checked. “Following an expanded inspection of the processing plant, a number of improvement opportunities were identified, which are now further investigated and where feasible, plans put in place to implement these improvements. During the extended period of production shut down, the opportunity was used to do scheduled repairs elsewhere in the plant and this work will continue,” Duvenhage explained.
By Eveline de Klerk