Communities

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COMMUNITIES

Environmental Stakeholder Engagement

Interaction with interested and affected parties has shown that the public wants to be better informed about health and environmental impacts arising from uranium mining. Suggestions for subjects to be covered are welcome and can be addressed to the contact persons listed on the your contacts page.

Biodiversity Action Plan

With assistance from experts within Rio Tinto, a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) was initiated at Rössing. A guidance template consisting of 15 steps has been provided to assist Rio Tinto businesses with implementing a BAP.

During 2007, Rössing completed the first ten steps. The plan for 2008 is to complete the last five, and to have the BAP ready for implementation
towards the end of 2008.

One of the ten steps taken was to hold an external specialist/stakeholder workshop. The workshop aimed to gain stakeholder input into the BAP by offering them the opportunity to review biodiversity features around the Rössing site, impacts caused by Rössing operations, and the risk assessment process applied. The workshop was well attended and very informative, and will assistin progress towards completion of the BAP.

Various stakeholders complimented Rössing on the way it involved them.

As part of the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for planned projects, studies by the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN) were carried out on invertebrates found in the proposed areas for expansion, namely the SH and SK areas and Dome Gorge. The results of the survey, together with those from an ecological survey done in 1984, show a total of 244 species with special conservation status, according to World Conservation Union categories.

Chamber of Mines of Namibia Branch Office

A concern often raised at public meetings held by new mining companies was the cumulative effect of numerous uranium mines in the coastal region. In response, the Namibian Chamber of Mines office at Swakopmund established a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to coordinate HSE matters related to uranium mining in the Erongo Region. Existing and prospective mines are represented, and have agreed to abide by internationally accepted sustainable development principles. The TAC has delegated specific topics to various subcommittees.

Coastal Bulk Water Users’ Forum

The Coastal Bulk Water Users’ Forum was established in 1997 to jointly manage the water resources of the Central Namib area. The following organisations were members of the forum in 2007: Arandis Town Council; Henties Bay Town Council; Langer Heinrich Uranium; Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry; Namibia Airports Company; Namibia Ports Authority (Namport); Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater); Rössing Uranium; the Swakopmund Municipality; UraMin Namibia; Valencia Uranium; and the Walvis Bay Municipality. The key topics discussed during the year were water demand predictions, NamWater infrastructure maintenance, and the assurance and increase of water supply to the mines by seawater desalination.

River basin management

The Water Resources Management Acts 2004 (No. 24 of 2004) makes provision for the establishment of basin management committees so that people living in a river catchment or groundwater basin may have a say in the use and conservation of its water resources. The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry has started a basin management project for the Omaruru River basin, including areas along the coast that are supplied from the Omdel wellfield, i.e. Arandis, Swakopmund, and the Rössing and Langer Heinrich mines. Stakeholder consultation meetings were held at Omaruru in December 2006 and July 2007, at Henties Bay in September 2007, and at Karibib in December 2007. Donor funding has been provided and the Namibia Nature Foundation will carry out the project up to the establishment of a Basin Management Committee by the end of 2008.

Closure consultation

During 2007, instead of having public consultation on the terms of closing the mine, Rössing focused on the Life-of-Mine Extension framework. The spotlight mainly fell on ensuring adequate resources will be available if the mine needs to close, and that the closure plan submitted in 2005 remains valid.

Environmental concerns

During 2007, the following environment related concerns were raised by the public:

• Farmers’ concerns regarding noise and vibration
• Manganese handling, and
• Water quality and quantity.

Farmers’ noise and vibration concerns

Early in 2007, concerns were raised by people owning farms on the opposite side of the Khan River, about the effects of the mine’s rock blasting.
Blasting in the pioneering area of the extension of the open pit was taking place at higher ground levels and the resulting air blasts had the potential to cause vibration away from the mine.

Initial inspections at the farms were followed by a meeting at the end of the year at which it was agreed to set up monitoring instruments at individual farms.

The effects of blasting noise and vibration will be further investigated in cooperation with the farmers during 2008.

Handling manganese

The bulk handler from which Rössing leases land to store manganese at the Port of Walvis Bay raised concern with regard to dust being generated during the offloading of the manganese from the vessel to the bulk storage area. A number of meetings took place between Rössing and the various stakeholders in order to address the issue. In February 2008, Rio Tinto Procurement negotiated with the manganese supplier to provide the manganese in bags. This process will eliminate the supply of bulk manganese.

Water

Actions are in progress to address the two principal
community concerns related to water, namely a sustainable and affordable supply of water to coastal consumers, and the impact Rössing has on groundwater quality and quantity.

Interested members of the public who attended Rössing’s public meetings during 2007, e.g. a workshop held in connection with the mine’s Biodiversity Action Plan, were still very concerned about water contamination in the area around the mine. This issue requires more comprehensive and widespread communication about the actual situation.

Information will be supplied in the SEIA for mine expansion projects, and as part of the regional Strategic Environmental Management Plan (SEMP) to be prepared for the Chamber of Mines Uranium Stewardship Committee.

Work on the radiation dose assessment for the lower Swakop River farms was finalised in 2006, and monitoring of water quality and levels continued in 2007.

A major clean-up of Arandis was tackled by the residents, with the support of The Rössing Foundation and the Arandis Town Council, to assist with making the town more attractive to prospective investors and residents. The Zone Leaders took the initiative to erect a welcome sign at the crossroads leading to the town.
Several car wrecks were also removed from residents’ back yards.

The team of Polytech students involved in the Biodiversity Project under the leadership of the Desert Research
Foundation of Namibia.

The Husab sand lizard is endemic to the Rössing area and the Husab Mountains.

“In terms of biodiversity and the environment generally, [Rössing] are actually showing the way for the other mines to follow. Now that we have this information about the Rössing area, we would like to know what is in the surrounding areas. Those surrounding areas now have other mines, like Valencia and Goanikontes. So Rössing is showing what level of research and monitoring should be done, and which those other mines are picking up on now. I think it’s to everyone’s benefit to build up a bigger picture of what is in the area, and to understand the biodiversity of the whole area – not only of each of the smaller areas where the actual mines are or will be.”

JOHN PALLET
Environmental Consultant
Desert Research Foundation of Namibia

Children attending the
Asser Kapere Pre-primary School at Arandis.

Rauna Hiskia, a resident of Arandis, started a small pottery business several years ago – not only selling her pottery to the local market, but also assisting in teaching several other residents in the art of pottery. She is one of several local entrepreneurs who gained from business training offered by SME Compete as part of The Rössing Foundation’s programme to assist SMEs in the town.

A major social event in 2007 was the mine’s interdepartmental sport tournament with many Rössing and contractor teams
participating in funfilled soccer matches, as well as in bowls, darts, pool, volleyball and golf competitions.

Polytechnic students take part in Rössing Uranium’s Biodiversity Project

As part of the mine’s expansion plans, which may include mining the SK and SH areas to the east and west of the open pit, an EIA on various issues is currently being carried out. Aspects being researched include biodiversity (plants and animals), air quality, and geohydrology – to name but a few. This will ensure that the environmental impacts of the expansion plans are well understood, and that measures are put in place to prevent or mitigate any negative impacts.

A group of five final year Nature Conservation students at the Polytechnic of Namibia and three researchers from the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN) and Gobabeb Training and Research Centre conducted a nine day biodiversity assessment at Rössing. Their focus was to collect samples of invertebrates (e.g. scorpions, spiders and insects), reptiles, birds, and mammals in the eastern edge of the SK area, the western edge of the SH area, and the northern part of the Rössing Dome.

The methods employed to capture these animals included the following:

• Pit traps were used, i.e. sinking a bucket into the ground to trap ground moving animals such as beetles and lizards
• Walking transects and looking out for animal signs such as spiderwebs and lizard tracks
• Hunting with a ‘black light’ or ultraviolet light at night (scorpions have a fluorescent glow in the dark), and
• Mist nets for trapping bats.

After nine days of camping in the area and walking out in the hills, the group managed to collect and photograph a number of species of lizards, snakes, spiders and scorpions, many of which remain unidentified. This is because taxonomic and distribution information for many of these animals is incomplete. Samples have been sent to the Gobabeb Centre and to specialists in Windhoek for proper identification. “

Amongst the spiders we found is the six-eyed crab spider, which is known to be highly toxic, but is in fact a very docile creature which rarely bites,” says John Pallett, a researcher with the DRFN.

According to him, if it happens that a species of animal is found here at the mine site and not anywhere else in the world, the mine will have to make plans to protect the species.

“Our task is to advise Rössing on the animal diversity so we can minimise the impact that mining activity might have on the animals. Let’s take the Husab sand lizard, for example. This animal is endemic to this area. As far as we know, it is found only in the Rössing area and in the Husab Mountains on the other side of the Khan River. Our task is to understand how the world population of this species will be affected by expansion of the mine. If it would be greatly endangered by these activities, we would have to recommend strong measures to protect it.”

The students completed a six-month practical course at Gobabeb as part of their Polytechnic training. The group comprised David Aiyambo, Kaarina Eelu, Richard Kavari, Vatekuleni Nghiitombo and Johanna Shikangala, assisted and guided by John Guittar, John Pallett and Veronica Siteketa.