The mines ministry deputy executive director Erasmus Shivolo says many statements about Namibia being rich and endowed with mineral resources have been made.
Shivolo said that for him, many of those statements are political statements.
“Those statements ought to be specific to particular commodities. If you say Namibia is rich in diamonds, I will agree. It’s proven. It’s there. It’s been mined for over 100 years. It continues to be mined and I know will be mined for over a 100 or 50 years,” Shivolo said.
He also said if you go to uranium, there are uranium mines that have been in operation since the late 70s.
He cited Rossing Uranium Mine, saying it has been operating until now.
“As we speak, Namibia is the third largest producer of uranium [in the world]. Rossing, Husab, Langer [Heinrich] and many others,” Shivolo said.
According to Shivolo, copper may be there, but can the volumes of discovered deposits in Namibia be compared to Zambia, the DRC, and South Africa?
“You can’t. So, that statement is exaggerated in my view. Until that time, when we have done a lot of exploration, we have made discoveries. We know at least the resources. Not the reserves, but just the resources that if one actually goes deeper and you want to quantify those in reserves for mining purposes now, then you can say, hey, this country is very, very rich,” Shivolo said.
He also said Namibia has a beneficiation strategy drafted in 2021, which entails that the country wants to process as many minerals as possible to add value.
Shivolo said there are a few challenges with the beneficiation strategy, such as water and energy.
“For those that might need water or energy, that can be one challenge. Those are two areas where we are struggling to meet the demand.
“The country is dry. There is not enough rainfall. Underground water is being depleted. Desalination is the solution, as expensive as it is,” he said.
Shivolo said he is glad NamWater Husab (Swakop Uranium) has now agreed to construct a desalination plant.
“This is something that I started with my team. It was six, seven years ago,” he said.
Shivolo said the ministry is still determining when the electricity demand will be met.
“We estimate 2028. I’m not sure who will get there,” he said, adding that they need a grid if one wants a plant like Dundee’s in Tsumeb.
“You need stable grid power to run the industry. We might theoretically say we are meeting demand in terms of megawatts. Remember that we need 800 megawatts plus or minus 800 megawatts. To satisfy the demand of the country.
“But if you only have 30% of that, that is stable grid power. You have not met the demand for industrialisation. If you want to build a very nice big iron ore plant, forget it,” Shivolo said.
The deputy executive director also spoke about setting up processing plants.
In his view, if there is enough water and energy, there are little ratios of discoveries to meet the economies of scale.
“Just imagine at Uis. Uis, Omaruru there is a nice belt that goes to Otjimbingwe. It runs past Karibib. Can you imagine if every one of those little places had a plant?
“You start building white elephants. Your mine life is maybe only three, five years. And you have made an investment of a couple of billions of dollars. What are you going to put in there?” he asked.
He said these are some things to consider when discussing processing plants because the economies of scale are really crucial.
Shivolo said Lepidico, outside of Karibib, has been there for a long time.
“I think it operated initially, maybe in the 80s. In the 90s, it used to be operated by some South African cowboys.
“They just ran away and left it unrehabilitated. We actually took over and we rehabilitated the area with funds from the ministry. There were a number of people who were just left destitute.
“There was a gentleman in Germany that used to buy the lepidolite from there. So, I contacted him and said, you know, these guys who owned this mine, they ran away, if you ever need the lepidolite, there is some of the mine.
“And these guys can actually collect some for you to buy. And for a while, the guy was sending a cheque. I would tell the people those workers who are left there to gather 5, 10 tons, 15, 20 tons,” Shivolo said.
He recalled driving a Land Rover from Windhoek carrying a bag of money on Saturdays or Sundays to go to Karibib.
He also recalled meeting the small-scale miners who would have driven from the mine with a truck loaded with lepidolite.
“I go there, these guys have gathered and had a truck there. The truck delivered to Karibib. I paid them. Then the guy from Germany comes, takes his stuff and goes,” Shivolo remembered.
He highlighted some problems with lithium claims, saying it is difficult to quantify.
Shivolo explained that one doesn’t do specific studies and reserve estimates with mining claims.
“You follow a reef. And say well, it looks like there’s something here, let me just start picking up these species.
“So, it’s difficult to quantify those numbers. Even only when they produce. But you must also understand that many of them would hardly even dig up an open pit the size of a room because of limitations.
“Equipment to drill and blast and open that space up so that you can haul and go to crash. So what do they do? They can open up a reef about the side of this table. And they see that, okay, there’s nice stones here. “They use pick and shovels. And they take what they can take, the rest that is maybe on the sides or deeper. They leave it. So, that’s why small-scale mining is actually not ideal for minerals of this nature. It’s ideal for crystals, for semi-precious stones,” Shivolo said.
He said if a small-scale miner can follow a reef and dig a hole, but if that small-scale miner has a mining claim for alluvial diamonds, would they get anything?
“But if you look at Lepidico, they have done a fairly good feasibility study. They know the volumes and the traits.
“Xinfeng has done a fair job of establishing what is there. A lot of it, they rely on what was done. The Russians did something,” Shivolo said.
He added that the ministry did a lot of work in the Uis area, targeting tin and tantalite on behalf of small-scale miners.
Collective Health cetificate
The mines ministry is working with UNDP to develop a collective health certificate.
Shivolo said this is only practical in an area where there is a concentration of activities in an area.
He said it is expensive for each and every one of the claim holders to conduct an environmental and social impact assessment.
“So, with UNDP and small-scale miners, we should be able to say, okay, why don’t we do one impact assessment for the whole area? And we developed one management plan for the whole area. Because it’s the same area, basically. It’s not that there’s someone on the top of the mountain, there’s one here, they are all mainly around the same area,” Shivolo said.
He also said one management plan should suffice for all the claimants to get a clearance and a certificate.
