The Etango uranium deposit, first mapped during Namibia’s uranium exploration boom of the late 1970s, was acquired by Bannerman Energy in 2005 from earlier prospectors who were unable to develop it.
The company has since driven the project through exploration, pilot testing, feasibility engineering, permitting, and now early works construction.
Bannerman Energy says it is advancing toward a Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Etango uranium project within the next six to twelve months, with early works at the site in western Namibia progressing on time and within budget.
The company’s September 2025 Quarterly Activities Report shows steady progress across engineering, financing, and offtake streams as the project continues to attract strong international attention.
Located about 30 kilometres southeast of Swakopmund, Etango could become Namibia’s fourth uranium mine, joining Rössing, Husab, and Langer Heinrich. Bannerman Energy, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: BMN) and Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX: BMN), holds a 95 per cent stake in the project, while the remaining 5 per cent belongs to Namibia’s One Economy Foundation, a social-development entity established to ensure local participation in Etango’s long-term benefits.
Gold Fields first explored the Etango deposit in the 1970s and 1980s.
When Gold Fields exited Namibia, the rights changed hands before Bannerman acquired them from OptiMix Investments (Pty) Ltd two decades later. Systematic drilling began in 2006, followed by multiple feasibility studies and the construction of a heap-leach demonstration plant at Walvis Bay, which successfully de-risked the acid-leach process used in the current mine design.
In 2022, Bannerman completed the Etango-8 Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), confirming the technical and economic viability of an open-pit mine and heap-leach processing operation producing 3.5 million pounds of U₃O₈ per year at a throughput of 8 million tonnes per annum.
A later Etango-XT and Etango-XP Scoping Study, released in March 2024, outlined expansion scenarios capable of boosting output to 6.7 million pounds annually, depending on uranium market conditions and financing.
Bannerman Executive Chairman Brandon Munro said the early-works programme continues to validate the company’s construction and management strategy.
“The visual advancement of our early works on site, and their on-schedule and on-budget delivery from the Bannerman team and our contract partners, was a particular highlight of the quarter,” Munro said. “Under Gavin Chamberlain’s leadership, our focus on tight contract and activity controls is yielding excellent safety, physical and financial outcomes through our early works activities.”
He added that Bannerman’s balance sheet and newly signed offtake agreements are strengthening the company’s credibility with potential buyers.
“Our advancing early works programmes and strong balance sheet allow us to effectively demonstrate to potential customers a solid basis for confidence in our ability to meet future supply commitments.
The signing of initial offtake agreements with high-quality utility counterparties represents a further important step in our systematic advancement of Etango as we observe market conditions continuing to develop towards incentivising a targeted Final Investment Decision.”
According to the September 2025 Quarterly Report, Etango’s early-works construction — covering bulk earthworks, site access, and utilities — is about 42 per cent complete.
The heap-leach pad is advancing on schedule, and excavation of process ponds has commenced.
Bannerman says the Phase 1 and 2 blasting contracts for drainage material have been awarded to Tulela Mining & Construction (Pty) Ltd. In contrast, the Phase 1 concrete package for the primary crusher structure has been awarded to K. Neumayer Civil Contractors (Pty) Ltd.
Engineering for the processing plant is led by Wood Group PLC, with the dry-plant design now 86 per cent complete.
German supplier Köppern GmbH has completed factory acceptance testing of the high-pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) crusher at its Hattingen factory, while Windhoek Consulting Engineers oversees local supervision.
Erongo Red supplies on-site power, and NamPower has signed a full-form agreement to construct a new feeder bay at Kuiseb Substation. NamWater has also agreed to extend its pipeline infrastructure to Etango, ensuring both construction and permanent water supply.
Bannerman says its safety record remains unbroken — more than 16 years without a lost-time injury — as activity on site ramps up.
The workforce is expected to grow from around 120 to 400 people during the December 2025 quarter as civil and blasting work expands.
Most contracts have been awarded to Namibian companies, ensuring that construction and early employment benefits remain local.
Although Bannerman has not disclosed a cumulative Namibian-dollar figure for Etango to date, its reported A$31.5 million in completed early works and A$49.2 million in committed contracts translate to roughly N$1.45 billion, using an average exchange rate of N$18 to US$1.
Including exploration, feasibility, and pilot-plant spending since 2006, the total investment in the project is estimated at more than N$8 billion, according to calculations derived from Bannerman filings and ShareCafe market analysis.
Bannerman retains a 95 per cent interest in Etango, with the remaining 5 per cent held by the One Economy Foundation under a loan-carried structure formalised in 2021.
The foundation, established in 2016 by Monica Geingos, Namibia’s former First Lady, operates as a non-profit organisation dedicated to closing the country’s inequality gap through education, entrepreneurship, and social justice programmes.
A board of trustees governs it and does not have private shareholders.
Under the partnership, One Economy’s 5 per cent interest is loan-carried through to production, meaning Bannerman funds all project costs — from feasibility to construction — on the foundation’s behalf.
Once Etango begins generating cash flow, One Economy’s portion of profits will be used to repay Bannerman’s development loan, after which the foundation becomes a fully participating equity partner.
Bannerman says the arrangement embeds long-term Namibian participation while ensuring that revenues benefit local social-development programmes.
Although Bannerman does not state a valuation for this stake, a 5 per cent share of Etango’s projected capital cost of US$374 million (approximately N$6.7 billion) places the foundation’s future equity at roughly N$335 million, according to estimates derived from project filings and current exchange rates.
The company says the structure reflects its long-standing commitment to inclusive ownership and aligns with national policy promoting broad-based local participation in strategic mineral projects.
Financing for Etango is advancing through global advisors Azure Capital and Vermilion Partners, affiliates of Natixis.
Bannerman’s September quarter filings show a cash balance of A$111.8 million (about N$2 billion), with no debt and an additional A$13.1 million (≈ N$236 million) in liquid assets held through the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (SPUT).
The company maintains a stage-gated approach to expenditure, ensuring that contracts are awarded in sequence with funding availability.
In September 2025, Bannerman signed its first two uranium offtake agreements with Tier-1 North American utilities, covering a total of 1 million pounds of U₃O₈ between 2029 and 2033.
According to Bannerman, both deals are structured with base-price and escalation clauses tied to the US GDP Implicit Price Deflator, giving flexibility in delivery timing before the final investment decision.
The counterparties are two Fortune 500-rated power utilities, both with investment-grade credit ratings. Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy has approved the agreements.
At the same time, the company is finalising off-site infrastructure plans. A lease agreement for an acid storage and handling facility at Walvis Bay port has been signed with NamPort, and environmental clearance for the site was granted in June 2025.
Ground investigations and survey work are underway under the supervision of Windhoek Consulting Engineers.
According to Bannerman’s filings, A$31.5 million (≈ N$567 million) in early works has been completed, with a further A$49.2 million (≈ N$886 million) in contracts committed.
“All key workstreams remain on track for a targeted positive FID on Etango, market conditions permitting, during the next six to twelve months,” the company stated in its ASX report.
The Etango-8 project carries a construction schedule of approximately 36 months, meaning that if a positive FID is made by mid-2026, first production could begin by 2028. Bannerman says the project will employ hundreds of Namibians during construction and create long-term skilled jobs during operations.
Contractor employment will peak at around 400 during the early works phase, with the majority sourced locally.
Once operational, Etango is expected to produce between 3.5 and 6.7 million pounds of uranium oxide annually, depending on the development phase and market expansion.
Bannerman says the project has a 30-year mine based on current reserves, and that additional satellite deposits in the Etango licence area could extend that lifespan.
If completed, Etango will join Namibia’s uranium corridor alongside Rössing, Husab, and Langer Heinrich, consolidating the country’s position as the world’s third-largest producer of uranium.
Bannerman’s Munro said earlier that the company views Etango as a “long-term strategic contributor” to Namibia’s energy transition and a reliable supplier to the global nuclear-fuel market.
