Gecko threatens legal action
A company that wants to mine a rare mineral in salt pans north of Etosha is threatening to sue if the government's environmental watchdog does not give it the green light.
Gecko Namibia is threatening court action against environmental commissioner Teofilus Nghitila and the environment ministry if they fail to grant them a clearance certificate to mine salt at the Otjivalunda salt pans north of Etosha.
Reinhold Iita, the chairperson of the Oshana communal land board and a director of Gecko's Otjivalunda Salt Mining and Soap Production company, claimed that they suffered a financial loss of N$2 million spent on an environmental impact assessment (EIA) that he said justified mining in the environmentally sensitive area.
“We are just waiting for them to respond to our appeal, and then if they fail to grant us permission we will go to court. Our EIA was positive,” Iita said.
In 2013, Gecko hired Enviro Dynamics Consultancy to perform the EIA which, according to Iita, found that the project was viable and would not cause environmental damage.
Gecko's joint-venture partner, Ondonga-Uukwambi Mining Enterprises (Pty) Ltd, also known as OUME, has in the meanwhile been accused of trying to sell out the salt pan by allowing the exploration of its trona reserves.
The salt pans at Otjivalunda are among the few places in the world were trona is naturally found. Trona is a common source of soda ash, which is a significant economic commodity because of its applications in manufacturing glass, chemicals, paper, detergents, and textiles. It is also used to condition water, to remove sulphur from both flue gases and lignite coal and is also used to manufacture bicarbonate of soda.
Concerned members of the public have contacted Namibian Sun, saying that Gecko was driven by German investors who were not interested in salt mining but rather wanted to mine trona.
“The environment ministry must reject this proposal. These people are interested in the trona and once they remove it, there will be no more salt in that pan. Namibia's cultural and natural heritage, including its biological diversity, must be protected and respected for the benefit of future generations,” said one source.
Another said that a trona resource takes up to 20 years to mature once it is harvested.
Otjivalunda has two salt pans situated in exclusive prospecting licence (EPL) 4365, which covers 20 650 hectares. The EPL allows only exploration and no mining.
Iita confirmed that there would be salt mining, which was aimed at removing the trona, and soap production.
“Salt is not reliable. What we want is sodium sulphate and calcium sulphate that foreign investors take out of the country as raw material. We would like to add value to it here in Namibia. For the trona, investors themselves know what to do with it,” Iita said.
The Ondonga and Uukwambi traditional authorities, through OUME, acquired the EPL and have a joint venture with Gecko Namibia, which has the mining experience.
Gecko Namibia owns 95% of the shares in the envisaged salt mining, while the two traditional authorities own 2.5% each.
In the planned soap project, Gecko Namibia owns 50% of the shares while the two traditional authorities each own 25%.
Iita said this was fair, since Gecko had the equipment and the financial means for exploration and mining which OUME did not have.
Otjivalunda is located within the Iipumbu Ya Tshilongo Conservancy. The two salt pans are situated on state land immediately to the north of the Etosha National Park.
According to Gecko's website, the pans contain sodium sulphate and sodium carbonate deposits of roughly 5.3 million tons.
More than 400 exploration holes have been drilled on the 700 hectares.
They say currently there is no infrastructure at the pans. Their proposed processing plant will be located 10km west of Oshakati and 120km by road from the pans.
Nghitila refused to issue the environmental clearance certificate, saying the salt-mining operation was an ecological risk.
ILENI NANDJATO
Reinhold Iita, the chairperson of the Oshana communal land board and a director of Gecko's Otjivalunda Salt Mining and Soap Production company, claimed that they suffered a financial loss of N$2 million spent on an environmental impact assessment (EIA) that he said justified mining in the environmentally sensitive area.
“We are just waiting for them to respond to our appeal, and then if they fail to grant us permission we will go to court. Our EIA was positive,” Iita said.
In 2013, Gecko hired Enviro Dynamics Consultancy to perform the EIA which, according to Iita, found that the project was viable and would not cause environmental damage.
Gecko's joint-venture partner, Ondonga-Uukwambi Mining Enterprises (Pty) Ltd, also known as OUME, has in the meanwhile been accused of trying to sell out the salt pan by allowing the exploration of its trona reserves.
The salt pans at Otjivalunda are among the few places in the world were trona is naturally found. Trona is a common source of soda ash, which is a significant economic commodity because of its applications in manufacturing glass, chemicals, paper, detergents, and textiles. It is also used to condition water, to remove sulphur from both flue gases and lignite coal and is also used to manufacture bicarbonate of soda.
Concerned members of the public have contacted Namibian Sun, saying that Gecko was driven by German investors who were not interested in salt mining but rather wanted to mine trona.
“The environment ministry must reject this proposal. These people are interested in the trona and once they remove it, there will be no more salt in that pan. Namibia's cultural and natural heritage, including its biological diversity, must be protected and respected for the benefit of future generations,” said one source.
Another said that a trona resource takes up to 20 years to mature once it is harvested.
Otjivalunda has two salt pans situated in exclusive prospecting licence (EPL) 4365, which covers 20 650 hectares. The EPL allows only exploration and no mining.
Iita confirmed that there would be salt mining, which was aimed at removing the trona, and soap production.
“Salt is not reliable. What we want is sodium sulphate and calcium sulphate that foreign investors take out of the country as raw material. We would like to add value to it here in Namibia. For the trona, investors themselves know what to do with it,” Iita said.
The Ondonga and Uukwambi traditional authorities, through OUME, acquired the EPL and have a joint venture with Gecko Namibia, which has the mining experience.
Gecko Namibia owns 95% of the shares in the envisaged salt mining, while the two traditional authorities own 2.5% each.
In the planned soap project, Gecko Namibia owns 50% of the shares while the two traditional authorities each own 25%.
Iita said this was fair, since Gecko had the equipment and the financial means for exploration and mining which OUME did not have.
Otjivalunda is located within the Iipumbu Ya Tshilongo Conservancy. The two salt pans are situated on state land immediately to the north of the Etosha National Park.
According to Gecko's website, the pans contain sodium sulphate and sodium carbonate deposits of roughly 5.3 million tons.
More than 400 exploration holes have been drilled on the 700 hectares.
They say currently there is no infrastructure at the pans. Their proposed processing plant will be located 10km west of Oshakati and 120km by road from the pans.
Nghitila refused to issue the environmental clearance certificate, saying the salt-mining operation was an ecological risk.
ILENI NANDJATO
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