Uranium One has been exploring uranium in the Omaheke Region since 2010.
The company, through its wholly-owned Namibian subsidiary Headspring Investments, owns eight EPLs, 4654, 4655, 4656, 4657, 6780, 6781, 6782, and 6783, covering over 7,000 square kilometres under its 100% owned Namibian subsidiary, Headspring Investments.
The company found a rich uranium ore body after only 60% of the exploration drilling, which started in 2019, had been completed.
The rich deposit of uranium was around Leonardville, about 240 km from the capital, Windhoek.
The proposed Wings Project uranium mining operations are located within the Stampriet Artesian Basin.
The orebody could deliver 3,000 tons of uranium annually, with a mine life of at least 25 years.
Uranium One plans to perform in situ leach tests on a single five-spot pattern pilot cell (of four injection wells and one production well) that has already been drilled on Tripoli Farm on EPL 4655, granted on August 15, 2011.
The pilot test area covers 225m2, i.e., 0.00002% of the deposit.
The test consists of four injection wells located at a distance of 15 metres from one another and one recovery well in the centre.
Four observation wells will monitor leaching solutions migration: two wells inside the pattern contour, while two others are installed outside the sound field along the flow direction.
The test aims to determine the project’s leading technical and economic parameters and decide on its development.
The Stampriet Water Basin
The Stampriet Water Basin consists of five different aquifers, namely the Kalahari aquifer, ~40-60 metres; the Auob 3 aquifer, ~100-140 metres; the Auob 2 aquifer, ~150-160 metres; the Auob 1 aquifer, ~170-180 metres and the Nossob aquifer over 200 metres.
The Auob 3 Aquifer has been found to be a uranium ore-bearing aquifer, while the Nossob aquifer, transboundary into Botswana and South Africa, is promising.
A 2002 Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) report estimated that the Auob Formation aquifers contain 180 billion m3 of freshwater for water supply, human consumption, livestock production and irrigation.
In addition, Jica said the Auob Formation aquifers have the most significant potential for uranium mining.
The Aranos Basin (also called Stampriet Aquifer Basin or Stampriet Transboundary Aquifer System) is included in the Stampriet Groundwater Control Area, and the government regulates water abstraction for mass use.
Resistance to uranium mining
Although the company says the Wings Project’s US$500 million operations will start in 2029, there is resistance from the farming communities through the Stampriet Aquifer Uranium Mining Association.
The association says its objective is to conserve the natural surface and sub-surface environment of the Stampriet Aquifer Basin and to advocate for the attainment and implementation of adequate legislative protection, establish policies conducive to the wise and sustainable use of the natural resources within the Stampriet Aquifer Basin and generally promote the sustainable development thereof.
Sauma also says it opposes and prevents potentially harmful activities that pollute or otherwise adversely affect underground water resources.
The association’s main fear is that ISR mining will contaminate water using sulphuric acid.
Uranium One says some communities informed them that the farmers against the mine are worried they will lose the cheap labour to the mines.
Uranium One’s problems started when the agriculture ministry conducted an unfit field investigation in October 2021, after Dr Roy Miller started the awareness of opposing our project.
The agriculture ministry withdrew the drilling permits in November 2021 and forced Uranium One to suspend operations.
The mines and environment ministries conducted field investigations in November and December 2021 and found no tangible reasons for compelling Uranium One to stop operations.
Everything else is in place except drilling permits
The environment ministry extended Uranium One’s clearance certificates, while the mines ministry renewed four EPLs in July 2022.
Uranium One could not start exploring without the drilling permits from the agriculture ministry.
Sauma intensified its activities against uranium mining in the region, and when uranium applied for new drilling permits in October 2022, the agriculture ministry declined.
The company sought a review of the drilling applications in early 2023, which led to the Prime Minister’s Office assembling an inter-ministerial committee to investigate the project.
There were two other parliamentary reports whose reports have yet to be released. The inter-ministerial committee report should have been released in June/ July 2023.
Uranium One’s eight EPLs and the environment clearance certificates are valid, except for the drilling permits.
No exploration as a principle
On June 17 2024, the parties convened in Mariental, where agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein declared that the Stampriet Artesian Transboundary Aquifer System has been declared a Subterranean Water Controlled Area due to its significant groundwater potential.
Schlettwein said the Stampriet Artesian Transboundary Aquifer System is now designated a Water Protection Area under the new Water Resources Management Act.
The minister said exploration drilling and mining activities in the zones put groundwater resources at risk if not conducted appropriately.
“As a principle, therefore, as a dry country, it is essential to agree on methods of exploration and mining that do not endanger the quality or quantity of groundwater resources,” he said.
Schlettwein said the government is aware of the risks posed by uranium in situ leach mining, especially if borehole drilling is not conducted according to the prescribed license conditions.
However, the minister did not cite any examples where ISR posed dangers that open pit mining has not and cannot expose the environment to.
Schlettwein later told The Extractor that he could not allow the uranium companies exploring the Omaheke region to carry out pilot projects.
Schlettwein also said he was waiting for the experts from Unesco to come back to him so that he could decide on the way forward.
“We will have to wait and see what the risk of pollution to the aquifer is. If we find a mitigating way, we can decide to go ahead, but if there are no mitigations, then we will not,” he said.
The minister said if the experts find that the exploration pollutes the water, the companies will have to carry the risk of their investments.
The Leonardville Village Council said Schlettwein had ignored their requests for a meeting to discuss the Wings Project.
The council also voiced concern that the June 24 workshop was held 200km from where the project was and that they were not invited directly.
“It should be known that we are the first Interested and affected parties of the Wings Project. The Village Council forwarded previous petitions and sought appointments to get an audience with the ministry, but all our efforts and requests went fruitless,” the council said.
They said the meeting in Martental was supposed to occur before Schlettwein stopped the multimillion-dollar investment project or before he revoked the permits.
The council also said the presence of SAUMA and Dr Miller on the agenda was provoking and needed clarification.
“This bandwagon of proclaimed in-situ experts who have been misleading people for over two years has not shown any factual science but emotion to cause fear,” the council said.
It added that the people were now aware they could physically coexist with the ISR mining method, like in other countries where it is practised.
“Some of our members have already gone to see the envisaged mines coexist with communities, which doesn’t need one to be an expert in in-situ,” the council said.
The council invited Schlettwein to visit the site in Leonardville to see what is happening on the ground and dialogue with the community.
Expert views
Dr Eng. Kuiri F Tjipangandjara of Water Solution Group cc said radionuclide concentration is already in the waters used by people and animals, above the permissible concentration limit.
Tjipangandjara added that there is dissolved uranium in three to four out of 10 water samples and that minerals from ore bodies constitute a significant source of mineral species in the aquifer.
“It isn’t easy to attribute the high uranium concentration in the water bodies to mineral exploration activities. It is worth noting that such a high uranium concentration is observed without any in-situ mining activity,” he said.
Malcolm Siegel said there are 14 active ISR projects in the US as of 2012 and that six failed between the 1960s and early 1980s.
Sigel said the alternative goals for review for proposed ISL mining is to determine if the proposed operation will be sufficiently protective of health and environment or if the information provided by Wings Project EIA and UNESCO demonstrates that the proposed operations will be adequately protective of health and environment.
Dr Alexander Boytsov from the Rosatom Russian Federation said ISR has been the primary uranium mining method since 2009.
Boystov said ISR’s share in global production has increased from 20% in 2005 to 62% in 2021.
In 2021, Kazakhstan ISL mining contributed 46%, while five other ISL-producing counties 16% of the world total.
Boystov said a 2021 regional scale numerical groundwater flow model report of the Auob Aquifer showed groundwater flow velocity in the one to three metres per year.
He said transport of any potential contaminant introduced into the aquifer at the mining area will travel south and southeast over time.
“Capture zones of water wells in Leonardville may potentially intercept the transported residual ISL solutions over 500 to 1000 years,” Boystov said.
According to Boystov, 63 water samples were collected, including 32 from Headspring Investments explorations hydrogeological wells alongside the ore body and 31 from farmer’s water supply wells up to 20 km from the ore body tested positive for radionuclides.
Amie Leggett, the Principal Scientist of Environment and Hydrogeology Innovative Groundwater Solutions said there should be a clear discussion of model capabilities and limitations in light of the available inputs and the model objectives.
She also recommended considering additional remediation techniques outside of natural attenuation, given the high environmental and social use values of the Stampriet basin.
