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Rössing’s business at a glance – 2007

Rössing Uranium’s vision is to be a safe, significant and growing long-term supplier of uranium to the world nuclear power industry.

Its global customers are the nuclear power utilities around the world, converting and enriching the uranium oxide produced at the mine as nuclear fuel in the generation of electricity.

Current Namibian output makes up about 7% of the world production of primary produced uranium. In 2007, Rössing produced 3,046 tonnes of uranium oxide, which was 571 tonnes less than that produced in 2006, mainly because of limiting mining factors due to a narrower open pit.

The uranium was produced from mining 21.4 million tonnes of rock, with 12.6 million tonnes of ore processed. The ore from 500-million-year-old granitic rock is mined from an open pit currently about 3 km long, 1.2 km wide, and about 345 m deep.

The mine’s extension plans refer to projects that are currently being implemented, while the expansion plans refer to projects evaluated for implementation. Since Rössing’s extension plans were announced towards the end of 2005, significant changes have taken place to chart the future of the mine. Most significant is that the life-of-mine was extended from planned closure in 2009, then to 2016, and now to 2021.

The motivation for the mine’s extension and expansion plans was the continuing high spot market price for uranium oxide, which reached US$136/lb during 2007, up from US$72/lb in 2006. The spot market price surge created a wide interest in uranium exploration and mining opportunities in Namibia, specifically in the Erongo Region, with the outlook of increased employment and economic growth for the Region.

Location

The mine site is located about 70 km north-east of Swakopmund, and encompasses
a licence area of about 180 km2, of which 20 km2 are used for mining, waste disposal and processing.


         Click on the map to enlarge

Mining is done by blasting, loading, and hauling from an open pit that measures 3 km by 1.2 km, and is 345 m deep.

Rössing’s shareholders



Rio Tinto owns the majority of shares (69%) in Rössing Uranium Limited. The Namibian Government has a 3% shareholding, but it has the majority (51%) when it comes to voting rights. The Government of Iran owns 15%, a stake that was acquired during the set-up of the company in the early 1970s. The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa owns 10%, while local individual shareholders own a combined 3%. The shareholders have no uranium product off take rights.

In 2007, as part of the mine’s expansion programme and with ongoing stakeholder consultation, the mine embarked on a Social and Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) plan for new projects that have been identified. These projects include an ore-sorting plant, a sulphuric acid production plant, and the mining of a small satellite open pit referred to as SK4. Other projects that will undergo the SEIA process are heap leaching, and bulk sulphur storage and handling at the Port of Walvis Bay. The mine’s stakeholders were involved in the SEIA process.

Catering for the expansion of the mine’s operations, the number of employees increased by 236 during 2007, and is envisaged to increase by another 125 employees in 2008. In line with the growth of the operation, educational funding and support increased to about N$4.3 million for the review period, with the aim of filling future vacancies through the mine’s own development programmes.

Rössing’s vision is to be a world leader in the mining of uranium, and it is determined to be the best corporate citizen in Namibia. At its foundation is a business approach that resolves to integrate sustainable development into every aspect of the business in order to support sound environmental practices, economic and social development and corporate governance, as depicted in its Strategic Goals diagram below.