Rössing expansion to increase water, electricity and acid

IF Rio Tinto Rössing uranium decides to develop the new Z20 uranium deposit south of the Khan river from where its current open-pit mine is, it could use 20 megawatts more of Namibia’s electricity; double its annual four million cubic metre water requirement; and increase its projected acid plant capacity from 1 200 tonnes per day to 2 000 tonnes.

Access to the new deposit will also require a 13 kilometre long state-of-the-art conveyer belt (which will be 121 metres above the river bed at one point); and a 14 kilometre (seven metre wide) tar road that will include a 200 metre long bridge that will be about 3,6 metres high across the Khan river.If the project is found financially feasible and all clearances are received, the estimated cost for the conveyor system will be about N$1,3 billion though the total cost is yet to be known.Rössing is currently undertaking a Social and Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) in order to seek environmental clearance from the Namibian government by next year and if the company decided to go on with the project, it is envisioned that it will be commissioned three years later.It is expected that about 2 500 temporary jobs could be created at the peak of the construction phase that might last between 18 and 24 months.The Z20 ore body is situated where Rössing’s mining license area and the Namib Naukluft Park overlap.According to Project Director, Andries van der Merwe, the new deposit is considered a ‘substantial find’, and was similar in size to that of the existing Rössing SJ pit, while the ore composition is similar to that of Rössing’s existing open pit extracts – considered ‘a good uranium grade’.’The new find will constitute a significant addition to the economic value of Rössing Uranium’s ore inventory. Our current pit has a mine life until 2023, so this could add more years,’ said Rössing Uranium spokesperson, Alwyn Lubbe.Doppelmayr, which installed the cable-car at Table Mountain in Cape Town is the preferred supplier for the conveyer belt. According to the Doppelmayr’s Managing Director, Hermann Frühstück, the product is up to 50 per cent more efficient in power use, while also environmentally pragmatical in that it is a suspended conveyer belt that has a small foot print with some 33 pillars required to suspend it. According to him, two-thirds of all conveyor belt systems are situated in national parks around the world. The conveyer belt will have a one-direction capacity of 2 250 tonnes per hour at 4,65 metres per second. It is estimated that a maximum of 600 million tonnes of waste rock (mined rock without uranium) would have to be disposed close to the Z20 open pit.If the project goes ahead, other proposed components include the modification of the existing processing plant, and the establishment of a new high density tailings storage facility, as well as construction of a power line and water and diesel supply pipelines to the Z20 area.According to Van der Merwe, water is a major challenge in that ‘if desalinated water cannot be used, the project can’t materialise’. There are discussions currently between the mine and NamWater for the possible use of desalinated water.Prior to starting the proposed project, two applications (one for the overland conveyer and one for the rest of the project components) will be submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The related SEIA include a screening phase and a scoping phase. The purpose of the SEIA process is to identify and evaluate feasibility alternatives and potential impacts, and to identify potential measures to avoid or reduce negative and enhance positive impacts if the project gets all clearances and is found to be economically viable.SLR Environmental Consulting and Aurecon are the two companies appointed by Rössing as the environmental consultants to manage the SEIA process.

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