The Namibia Statistics Agency says the mining exploration subsector recorded a staggering 315.8% increase in real value added during the third quarter of 2023.
This outstanding growth was primarily driven by ongoing investments in oil exploration within the country, which expanded by 36,3% compared to 15,4% in 2022.
The mining and quarrying sector grew 51.7% in real value added during the 2023 third quarter, compared to 30.6% in the same period last year.
According to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), this growth is primarily attributed to mining metal ores.
The subsector of metal ores recorded a double-digit growth of 33.4% during the quarter under review, compared to a decline of 22.6% in the corresponding quarter of 2022.
The performance in the subsector is attributed to an increase in the production of gold.
The uranium subsector reported an improvement, marking a 29.9% increase in real value added during the current quarter, compared to a 1.8% recovery observed in the third quarter of 2022.
This growth is primarily attributed to increased production during the review period.
The diamond mining subsector recorded a marginal decrease of 0.2% growth rate in real value added, marking the first decline in nine quarters. This contrasts with the staggering 32.6% growth reported in the corresponding quarter of 2022.
The decline is attributed to a slight reduction in production during the reviewed quarter.
The ‘Other mining and quarrying’ subsector posted a staggering growth of 167.0 per cent in real value-added, a significant improvement from the 86.1 per cent reported in the same period in 2022.
