Mining contracted by 11.1% in 2019

The mining industry generated N$ 33.5 billion in 2019 for the Namibian economy, says the Chamber of Mines of Namibia's first vice president, Hilifa Mbako.Speaking at a media briefing on the 2019 Mining Industry Review and the impact of coronavirus on the industry held in Windhoek, Mbako said N$ 4.8 billion or 10 percent of the revenue generated was distributable to the state.“Most of the money that was generated stayed in Namibia, about 77 percent of the distributable cash stayed within the borders of the country, while fixed investment by mining continued on a downtrend as new mining projects are developed,” he said.Mbako added that real growth fell, posting a contraction of 11.1 percent in 2019 due to a drop in diamond and uranium production.As at 31 December 2019, the industry employed 9 027 employees, of which only 283 were expatriates representing 3.1 percent of the workforce. Direct total employment was 16 324 and 800 employees were temporarily employed, while 6 515 were employed by contractors.Speaking about the impact of Covid-19 on the mining industry, the president of the Chamber of Mines of Namibia, Zebra Kasete said at the beginning of the pandemic, mineral commodity prices plummeted, particularly for base metals.“Namib Lead and Zinc mine was placed on care and maintenance and the price of zinc and lead dropped to below breakeven point. Social distancing was not possible in the confined underground environment and 129 jobs were lost. DemandDemand for diamonds has plummeted, being a luxury good in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic, dampening the flow in the diamond pipeline. Diamond production thus set to fall in 2020, negatively impacting government revenue and export earnings,” he said.He added that the mining industry has supported the government in the fight against Covid-19 in cash and in-kind to a tune of N$ 77.9 million.To date, at Rössing Uranium, 30 cases of Covid-19 positive cases were recorded, 18 at Swakop Uranium, six at Debmarine Namibia and 23 at Salt and Chemicals mine.“Covid-19 has presented opportunities in building specialised skills locally post Covid-19 and use of technology to repair equipment with help of experts remotely,” said Kasete. - Nampa

Mining contracted by 11.1% in 2019

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-17

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Mining contracted by 11.1% in 2019

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-17

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