Details emerge around Zhonge Uranium

WINDHOEK DENVER ISAACS
An environmental study completed back in 2011 and released to the public last week, details the development of a new uranium mine envisaged for the Erongo Region.
The 'Zhonghe Uranium Project' is set to be built in the Namib Desert, about 55km south of Usakos and 90km east of Swakopmund.
The report was released by the Namibian Chamber of Mines' Uranium Institute.
The project is being led by Zhonghe Resources Development, a subsidiary of China Uranium Corporation, which owns 58% of the venture.
The remaining 42% belongs to local company, Namibia-China Mineral Resources Investment and Development.
The project obtained a mining licence in November last year, although international media yesterday questioned an apparent lack of community engagement in assessing its impact on the local environment.
Despite a mining licence for the Zhonghe project being issued on November 30, 2012, there have not been any compulsory public discussions of this project and its EIA at all, international news site, Mining.com, stated last week.
When Namibian Sun yesterday questioned the project manager for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Dr Sindila Mwiya of 'Risk-Based Solutions' on this apparent lack of consultation, he declined to comment.
That report was done two, three years ago already. You cannot expect me to comment on it now, Mwyia said.
The Zhonghe project is expected to be an open pit mine, with the total project investment estimated at between US$600 million (N$5,4 billion) and US$700 million (N$6,3 billion).
The company hopes to achieve a mine lifespan of around 10 to 15 years, at a production capacity of 700 to 1 000 tonnes of uranium per year.
The EIA concludes that the potential positive impacts of the mine far outweighs the negatives in both long and short-term scenarios, although it notes a potential impact on a variety of reptiles, small mammals and birds specifically associated with this area .
Director of the Uranium Institute, Dr Wotan Swiegers, explained to Namibian Sun yesterday that the late release of the report was simply a technical matter.
The report was in fact finalised in November (last year), Swiegers said.
He added that Namibian authorities remain in talks with Zhonghe Project owners, but that there was still a long way to go before the realisation of the project.
The project will be situated in the immediate vicinity of currently operating Rössing Uranium and Husab Uranium.