sehr spannend sehr sehr spannend !
Govt Grants 25-year Uranium Licence to Canada's Forsys
Aug 27, 2008 (The Namibian/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- FOSYF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- THE Ministry of Mines and Energy has granted a uranium mining licence for the Valencia project near Usakos.
It would be valid for 25 years, Canadian company Forsys Metals Corporation announced, as a dozen more uranium companies are queuing up at the Ministry's doors, eager to get a finger in the uranium yellow cake.
But while companies are knocking on official doors to get a slice of this powerful resource, the moratorium on exploration licences has not yet been lifted.
Mining Licence No 149 is only the third licence for uranium mining issued by the Ministry after Langer Heinrich Uranium, also in the Erongo Region, received its go-ahead two years ago.
The first such licence was issued over 30 years ago to Roessing Uranium, a subsidiary of mining giant Rio Tinto.
Roessing mainly exports its processed uranium to Britain and the US, and since 2006 also to China.
Originally, the Valencia ore body was viewed as having a mining lifespan of only 11 years.
"The granting of the licence is a milestone achievement for our company," said Duane Parnham, President and Chief Executive Officer of Forsys, last week.
"It is a direct result of the excellent relationship between the company, its responsible personnel in Namibia, the Ministry and other Government bodies."
Valencia Uranium derives its name from the farm where the uranium deposits were found and it is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Forsys.
Forsys intends to dig an open pit almost the size of the nearby Roessing mine.
Forsys wants to mine 116,8 million tonnes of ore at a grade of 0.119 kg U3O8 per tonne.
About 122,4 million tonnes of waste rock has to be removed.
The final pit will be 1 400m long, 700m wide and 360m deep.
A farmer near Valencia recently challenged the water permit granted to Forsys for the extraction of 1 000 cubic metres a day, but the urgency of the application was dismissed in the Windhoek High Court.
In November 2007, Forsys Metals entered into a memorandum of understanding with the South Korean company Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) to discuss possible joint venture arrangements for the exploration and development of Valencia.
The Ministry of Mining and Energy granted the French state-owned nuclear company Areva a uranium mining licence for deposits discovered near Trekkopje in the Namib Desert, one of the largest deposits in the world, according to Areva.
Several foreign mining companies, dominated by Canadian firms, hold over 60 exploration licences (EPLs) for uranium, ranging from Tsumkwe to the Skeleton Coast, Kaokoveld, Rehoboth, Luederitz and even Warmbad.
The majority of EPLs issued are for the Erongo Region.
The Namibian Government stopped giving out EPLs for uranium last year, saying the temporary moratorium was necessary to control the sector.
The moratorium will be lifted once the Ministry of Mines and Energy has drafted a uranium policy with the help of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Once the policy is completed, appropriate legislation will follow.
In order to meet the future energy demands in the Erongo Region, triggered by the uranium rush, Namibia's power utility, NamPower, is planning an 800-megawatt coal-fired power plant.
The plant will have a coal stockyard, an ash-disposal facility and a transport system to deliver coal and potentially seawater to and from the plant.
It would consume about as 2,4 million metric tonnes of coal annually.
Meanwhile, Russia's leading uranium mining company, Atomredmetzoloto, a subsidiary of the state nuclear power company, Atomenergoprom, intends to start uranium prospecting in Namibia in the third quarter of 2008.
Atomredmetzoloto intends to set up a joint venture with a subsidiary of Russia's second-largest bank VTB, VTB Capital Namibia, and investment company Arlan, with headquarters in Namibia.
The holding company of Bank Windhoek, Capricorn Investment Holdings, is the Namibian partner of VTB Capital Namibia.
Arlan will hold 75 per cent minus one share in the joint venture, while Atomredmetzoloto and VTB Capital Namibia will possess 25 per cent plus one share, Atomenergoprom said in a recent statement.
Atomenergoprom, set up in 2007, became a part of state nuclear power corporation Rosatom in February 2008.
Atomredmetzoloto will prepare a feasibility study and act as the project's manager, while VTB's subsidiary will contribute two uranium prospecting licences to the joint venture in the promising Klein Spitzkoppe area.
Yield uranium reserves of at least 5 000 tonnes were found, according to Russian news agency Ria Novosti.
In its global search for fuel to enhance nuclear power generation India asked Namibia earlier this year to supply uranium from its vast reserves.
India's request was conveyed to Namibian Prime Minister Nahas Angula by Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh.
"India and Namibia could explore a long-term relationship in uranium," Ramesh said after his meeting with Angula.
Namibia, which is not a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, holds about 8 per cent of the world's uranium resources.
The Russian government last year offered to build nuclear power plants in Namibia to ease the present power crunch experienced in southern Africa.
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An der Börse sind 2 mal 2 niemals 4, sondern 5 minus 1.
Man muß nur die Nerven haben, das minus 1 auszuhalten.
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