With the planned construction of 23 nuclear reactors in 31 countries now in the pipeline, Nghimtina said these were good indicators that Namibia should develop its eight known uranium deposits into mines.

Nghimtina was responding to the environmental and health concerns raised by the Congress of Democrats in the wake of the development of a uranium mine at Langer Heinrich in the Namib-Naukluft Park.

Local and international rights groups have in recent weeks stepped up their resistance to the mine, saying radioactive dust and the emission of poisonous gases would put workers and residents at risk, while causing irreparable damage to the desert ecology.

Nghimtina said that Government had taken all the necessary steps to ensure that the mining industry complied with mine health and safety regulations.

He said Government was also satisfied that all environmental protection measures would be taken.

Nghimtina said Namibia's resource potential was by no means exhausted and that more prospecting needed to be done to discover more ore bodies.

"Namibia is a uranium producer and hosts known uranium deposits and several occurrences.

These uranium deposits should be converted into mines while several occurrences will be explored further to determine grade, size and economic viabilities," said Nghimtina.

Nghimtina said watchdog groups that had objected to the Langer Heinrich mine were "perpetually poisoning the atmosphere with unscientific information about the awarding of the mining licence".

He said the world's largest open-pit uranium mine, Roessing, was internationally renowned for its good health and safety regulations and environmental monitoring for nearly 30 years.

"The Ministry of Mines and Energy is assured that Langer Heinrich Uranium Mining Project will [emulate] Roessing Uranium Mine in environmental protection, mine health and safety issues, and in the physical protection of uranium oxide within and outside Namibia," said Nghimtina.

The Minister said Government was expecting the Langer Heinrich Mine to pay tax of N$63 million to the State, contributing 0,8 per cent to GDP and 0,45 per cent to exports.

The mine is further expected to create 750 jobs and put Namibia in tenth position in terms of world uranium-oxide production after Canada and Australia.

The groundbreaking ceremony of the Langer Heinrich Uranium Mine was held last month at the site 80 kilometres east of Swakopmund.

The mine is wholly owned by Australian exploration and development company Paladin Resources and will enjoy mining rights for 25 years.

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