Rössing Uranium Limited’s water reservoirs, constructed to increase the mine's water storage capacity were officially inaugurated by the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform Hon. Carl Schlettwein.
Speaking at the official inauguration, Rössing Uranium Board Chairperson Mr Steve Galloway said, the day exemplifies the way Rössing Uranium goes ahead of the pack and addresses issues in an innovative way and solve problems for the community, the region and the nation at large.
“The issue of water in Erongo region, particularly facing the mines was raised during the recently held Namibia Chamber of Mines Annual General Meeting, and it is good to have the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform witness what Rössing Uranium is doing in a proactive way to create selfsufficiency,” he said.
Steve added that Rossing Uranium has been a community leader in terms of involving communities in everything that it does and the Rössing Foundation has certainly done that and leads the way in the mining industry, providing benefits to all stakeholders and not just the shareholder.
Rössing Uranium received approval in 2020, to construct Six tanks, to assist in easing the pressure on the already existing NamWater infrastructure.
Water is a key commodity in the operation of the mine’s production, and with the unpredicted sulphur outbreaks in the sea, a strain is put on the national water supplier’s (NamWater) mandate of supplying the community of coastal towns with fresh water, which in the process affects the mines.
Currently, three NamWater reservoirs are used for supplying Arandis and Rössing mine, with fresh water and also provide buffer capacity when there are sulphur sea outbreaks in the ocean and the Orano desalination plant is unable to operate. Sufficient buffer capacity is reserved for Arandis during periods when Namwater is unable to supply fresh water and when the reservoir levels drop to that level, the mine has to cease operations, until such time that reservoir levels have recovered sufficiently to safely resume
operations.
To alleviate this problem, the six reservoirs were constructed to complement the storage capacity that is
provided by NamWater's reservoirs.
This will enable the mine to continue with production for an additional seven days during periods of extended water supply outages. This also means that when there are extended water interruptions experienced, there will be sufficient water for the community of Arandis.
In his keynote address, the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform Honourable Carl Schlettwein applauded Rössing Uranium for implementing initiatives which are aimed at supporting government efforts to supply fresh water to all areas of Namibia.
“I am pleased to note that the construction was performed by a local contractor, who was responsible for all the on-site construction activities, with a total of 100 contractor employees appointed during the duration of the project.
The minister also commented Rössing Uranium and the contractor for completing the project without any injuries, which confirms Rössing’s commitment to working safely and achieving zero harm, cementing the great safety performance recorded during the past year. This is indeed commendable.”
Rössing Uranium’s Managing Director Johan Coetzee said, the mine is already reaping the fruits of its
investment of N$ 100 million, as it was able to sustain operations late last year when there was planned maintenance shut at the Orano plant.
The mine also fed from the reservoirs for four days during the past Easter weekend.
Issued by:
Daylight Ekandjo
Manager: Corporate Communication
Rössing Uranium Limited
Enquiries:
Kaino Nghitongo
Advisor: Communication
Tel: +264 520 2436
Fax: +264 520 1506
Cell: 081 316 2885
Email: Kaino.nghitongo@rossing.com.na