The announcement by Roessing Uranium Limited Managing Director Michael Leech followed the approval of a Life of Mine Expansion (LoME) proposal submitted to Rio Tinto Group of Companies, which holds 68,6 per cent of Roessing's equity.

The LoME project will be implemented over the next two years and will create job opportunities for about 150 more people.

About half the money will be spent on additional equipment like shovels and haul trucks.

The rest the processing plant will be revamped to reach full production capacity of 4 000 tonnes of uranium within two years.

Roessing, one of the largest open-pit uranium mines in the world, has produced an average of 2 911 tonnes of uranium over the last three years.

The production target for 2005 is 3 800 tonnes.

Supplying 7,7 per cent of the global demand, Roessing is one of the biggest primary producers of U3O8 uranium in the world.

It currently provides employment to 833 people (96 per cent are Namibians) and 350 contractors.

The price of uranium has showed an upward trend since 2003, but because of the strength of the South African rand against the US dollar, the company suffered losses of N$140 million and N$75 million in 2003 and 2004 respectively.

The picture looked better this year with the continuing increase in uranium prices as well as the weaker performance of the SA rand against the US dollar.

Roessing's main markets are Europe, North America, South East Asia and Japan.

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