CHINA Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp (CGNPC) yesterday grew its stake in the Husab uranium project to nearly 80 per cent after Rio Tinto’s Rössing Uranium sold its 14,2 per cent interest in Extract Resources to the state-owned company.
Rössing Uranium managing director Chris Salisbury said in a statement that the company remains interested in jointly developing Husab as one of the world’s three biggest uranium mines, though.’We believe that a joint development of the Husab project with Rössing would bring benefits to the shareholders of both Rössing and Husab, the local community and Namibia,’ Salisbury said.CGNPC, through its subsidiary Taurus Minerals, has aggressively been pursuing Husab since last year, first by successfully launching a takeover bid for Kalahari Minerals, which owned 43 per cent of Extract. This was followed by a US$2,2 billion takeover offer for Extract.Extract, through its fully owned subsidiary Swakop Uranium, intends to build one of the three biggest uranium mines in the world.Doug Richie, the head of Rio Tinto’s energy division, was recently quoted in the Australian media saying that processing Husab through the nearby infrastructure at Rössing uranium was the natural way to develop the project.’The industrial logic of being able to develop Husab jointly with Rössing I think is pretty compelling,’ Ritchie said.Government granted Swakop Uranium a licence in December to develop the N$12-billion Husab uranium mine, a project that will create more than 17 000 direct and indirect jobs.Besides making Namibia the third biggest uranium producer in the world, Husab is set to boost the country’s exports by 20 per cent. It will also add five per cent to its gross domestic product (GDP).
