Tumas Granite CC and its owner, Jurgen Hoffman, have notified the High Court of Namibia of their intention to apply for the setting aside of mines minister’s decision to award licence 237 to Deep Yellow.
Licence 237 covers Deep Yellow’s flagship Tumas project in Namibia, which has 125 km of prospective palaeochannels.
The mines ministry awarded Deep Yellow the licence in September 2023, valid for 20 years.
The Tumas project has a resource of 121 Mlb (260 ppm U308), a reserve of 67 Mlb (345 ppm U308) and inferred resources of 16.5 Mlb available to further expand the ore reserve base, with the potential to add a further 10+ years to the current 22.25-year life-of-mine.
The licence allows Deep Yellow to establish the Tumas project as Namibia’s fourth uranium mine.
Tumas Granite CC and Hoffman want the court to declare the environmental commissioner’s decisions and the mines minister’s decisions to be in breach of the Constitution, among other things, and thus null and void and of no legal force and effect.
This is the fifth application by Tumas Granite CC and Hoffman challenging Deep Yellow’s rights over the Tumas project area.
In 2011, Tumas Granite CC and Hoffman approached the courts seeking relief over granting EPLs 3496 and 3497, which became licence 237, to Deep Yellow.
Deep Yellow says that while Tumas Granite CC’s actions are primarily against the mines minister, the environmental commissioner, and other government officials, the company’s Namibian subsidiaries have been joined as respondents.
The company further says it considers this latest application without merit and will take all necessary action to protect its interests, as it has always done.
“The company was issued with ML237 after complying with all relevant laws and regulations,” Deep Yellow says.
