Namibian mines weather the storm

Namibia has remained a diamond in the rough among developing nations reliant on mining revenues, even as commodity prices reached six-year lows last year and the local currency depreciated to historic lows.
Locally, dwindling copper prices resulted in suspension by Weatherly Mining Namibia of two central mining operations during the first half of 2015, and the retrenchment of 215 workers.
The Skorpion Zinc mine experienced a four-week strike that started on 20 July 2015 and cost the company some N$26 million in lost revenue.
And yesterday’s official launch of the country’s fifth national Mining Conference and Expo started off with a sombre acknowledgement of the sector’s blighted 2016 mortality record, in a moment of silence observed in memory of Martin Shilompoka, a B2Gold Otjikoto Gold Mine worker who died in a work-related accident on 22 January 2016.
Despite these unfortunate incidents, the Chamber of Mines of Namibia yesterday assured industry players and the public that the local mining industry was in sound condition and primed to reap the fruits of investments made in the sector.
The mining sector made a direct contribution of 11.9% to Namibia’s GDP in 2015, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency’s (NSA) preliminary statistics, although it contracted by 0.1% in terms of real value added.
Specific highlights over the course of 2015 included a combined turnover of N$25.28 billion, more than the N$22.78 billion recorded in 2014; and N$3.76 billion in wages and salaries (excluding Swakop Uranium). Total taxes paid by the mining industry in 2015 amounted to N$3.76 billion, compared to N$3.39 billion in 2014.

Slipped from first
Officiating at the launch of this year’s Mining Expo & Conference, Minister of Mines and Energy Obeth Kandjoze recalled Namibia’s being ranked in the 2014/15 financial year as the most favourable investment destination for mining in Africa, a distinction which Chamber of Mines of Namibia CEO Veston Malango credited for over N$32 billion worth of investment in the country since.
The minister noted however that the country has since dropped to fourth place in the esteemed ‘Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies’, currently sitting behind Morocco, Burkina Faso and Ghana.
Urging participants in the country’s mining sector to freely discuss their views on the proposed New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework (NEEEF) policy, Kandjoze said regaining Namibia’s previous top ranking in the Fraser Institute review constituted a key performance area in his own employment contract as line minister.
“I understand that there is some apprehension around how the NEEEF is to be implemented. Government is listening to you, and we want to remain a ‘partner of choice,” Kandjoze said in comforting mining investors.

Securing water and electricity
Another key performance area in his contract as minister, Kandjoze said, waas ensuring that Namibia suffers no incidents of electricity load-shedding over the course of government’s current ‘Harambee’ era.
A key concern for the ministry in terms of electricity supply, he said, was in the need to improve discussion between government and the renewable energy sector, which he said remained too fragmented.
Another was to diversify sources of water supply from current US dollar-priced options, which he said had become a prohibitive issue.
More than 120 exhibitors are registered for the 2016 Mining Expo & Conference, ranging from the country’s major mines to industry service providers.
The event is being held at the Windhoek Showgrounds, and ends this afternoon.

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