Swakop Uranium (SU) has outperformed its production target in the first half of 2023 by 10 per cent, which should see the mine reach its annual target production earlier than expected.
At 2 426 tonnes, the 2023 half-year uranium production represents a 45 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2022, according to the company.
The mine’s Executive Vice President, Irvine Simataa, in a recent press release said the significant improvement in uranium production is supported by a very strong mining and milling performance year to date, which are 29.6 per cent and 20.2 per cent up respectively compared to the same period in 2022.
“While achieving production volumes safely appears highly possible, emphasis remains on cost prudence areas such as water and electricity, where unplanned maintenance accelerated implementation of plans to mitigate the adverse impact of water supply, challenges are typically experienced in the successful execution of multi-million-dollar maintenance plans on both plant and mining equipment,” Simataa said.
He added that SU is confident to achieve and exceed benchmark reliabilities of assets to sustain current performance and uranium production is expected to meet and exceed budget production guidance.
Additionally, the company envisages spending an additional N.dollars 290 million in the second half for the construction of a demonstration heap leach plant meant to unlock future uranium production potential, particularly in low grade ore.
The said investment into pit expansions and the heap leach pilot according to Simataa, is meant to secure ore reserves for future processing in the plant and support the Life-of-Mine plan.
“To explore the economic feasibility of processing lower grade uranium ore, SU is in the process of investing in the construction of a pilot heap leach plant, at an estimated cost of N.dollars 290 million and pilot plant tests will be concluded by the end of 2025, after which further investment will be made to expand to a commercial plant, if found to be economically feasible,” he said.
SU currently employs 1 700 permanent employees and over 2 000 contracting staff, making it one of the biggest employers in Namibia.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency