The ban on exports of critical raw materials is seen as an opportunity for the country’s two large uranium mines, Rossing and Husab, to add value.
The managers of the mines say the advancement in technology could make it possible for Namibia, but they questioned what measures the government will put in place to ensure that the requirement is met. The managers of Rossing and Husab Uranium mines were asked by member of parliament, Tjekero Tweya, if they were scared of the government’s ban on exports of critical raw materials.
Currently, the mines export uranium oxide through the Walvis Bay harbor. The lawmakers wanted to know if there was a possibility of exporting a finished product.
Shaan van Schalkwyk, the Chief Financial Officer at CNNC Rossing Uranium, explained that “the next step is conversion, and I share with your view that even if you convert in a different country and the next stage, after that comes a step that also happens at another facility, but in the end, you know nuclear power is the future, and there is certainly technology coming on the market that modularizes nuclear power so that you don’t have to build it as big as nuclear power used to be that you can do it in smaller modular units. And certainly, that must be something that we as Namibians must consider, even if we put up a one-gigawatt reactor in Namibia.”
Irvinne Simataa the Executive Vice President at Husab Uranium, informed the parliamentarians “We are not afraid of that; we just ask the question: What is the government putting in place to ensure that such beneficiation as intended becomes a reality? I’m talking about infrastructure; I’m talking about training of resources; I’m talking about technology.”
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