Husab Mine
| Location | |
|---|---|
 Husab Mine
|
|
| Location | Namib Desert |
| Region | Erongo |
| Country | Namibia |
| Production | |
| Products | Uranium |
| Owner | |
| Company | China General Nuclear Power Group, Namibia |
| Website | http://swakopuranium.com/ |
The Husab Mine, also known as the Husab Uranium Project, is a uranium mine under development near the town of Swakopmund in the Erongo region of western-central Namibia. The mine is located approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Walvis Bay. The Husab Mine is expected to be the second largest uranium mine in the world after the McArthur River uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan, Canada and the largest open-pit mine on the African continent. The Husab Mine is to start production in early December 2015 after completion of the sulfuric acid leaching plant.
On 1 December 2011, the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy granted license to Swakop Uranium to develop the mine. The Husab Mine uranium is granite hosted. The mine has the potential to produce 15 million pounds (6800 tonnes) of uranium oxide per annum. The Husab mine contains approximately 280 million tonnes of uranium ore. Mining is expected to last nearly 20 years.
Uranium mineralisation is hosted primarily within sheeted leucogranites that intruse the rocks at various stages during the Damara Orogeny. Formation of the uranium magmatic ore body is stratigraphically controlled with the Khan-Rossing boundary acting as a redox front. The abundance of iron oxides and sulfides provide reducing conditions for uranium to be oxidised and precipitate in the form of uraninite which is the primary ore mineral that is mined at Husab.
Swakop Uranium is an entity established in 2006 by Extract Resources, an Australian company listed on the Australian, Canadian, and Namibian stock exchanges, to explore, evaluate, develop, and produce uranium oxide. In April 2012, Swakop Uranium was acquired by Taurus Minerals Limited of Hong Kong. Swakop Uranium head office is located in Swakopmund. Taurus is a subsidiary of the China General Nuclear Power Company (CGNPC), Uranium Resources Co. Ltd. and the China-Africa Development Fund. Taurus owns ninety percent of Swakop Uranium. The remaining 10% is owned by Epangelo Mining Company, the Namibian state-owned mining company. CGNPC’s investment in Swakop Uranium is one of the biggest investments in Namibia since its independence, and by far the single biggest investment by China in Africa. More than US$100-million (N$1-billion) has been spent to reach the construction phase. A further US$2-billion (N$20-billion) will be required to bring the mine online.
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