Name and Location
Husab uranium project, near Swakopmund, Namibia.

Client
Swakop Uranium, wholly owned by Extract Resources, which has recently acquired by Taurus Minerals.

Project Description
The Husab uranium project, located in the Erongo region of central-west Namibia, currently ranks as the third-largest global uranium-only deposit and is comfortably the largest uranium deposit in Namibia. It has uranium reserves of at least 280-million tons, grading at 518 parts per million for 320-million pounds of contained uranium oxide (U₃O₈).

The grade at Husab is 50% higher than that of the Rössing mine, which is currently the largest openpit mine in the world.

As more discovery work is done, it is expected that Husab will continue to climb the rankings.

A definitive feasibility study (DFS), prepared on the basis of a low-risk conventional openpit mine over Zones 1 and 2, has indicated that about 15-million tons of ore a year could be delivered to a conventional agitated acid-leach plant to produce about 15-million pounds of U₃O₈ equivalent a year.

The current plan is to mine from two separate pits to maintain the 15-million-pound-a-year output over an estimated life-of-mine of 16 years. Additional exploration and resource definition drilling are expected to continue to increase the already large resource inventory and enable significant future extensions to the mine life.

Value
Capital costs for the project are estimated at $1.48-billion, including the initial mine fleet, process plant and supporting infrastructure. Inclusive of prestrip and other preproduction operating costs of $179-million, the overall project cost is estimated at $7-billion.

An estimated $210-million will be spent on infrastructure.

Duration
The mine is expected to start production towards the end of 2015.

Latest Developments
Basil Read has been awarded a contract to build the permanent access road for the Husab uranium project.

The contract is valued at R193-million. Production will take about 15 months and the project should be completed by February 2014.

The road will be 11 m wide and comprises one 3.5 m lane in both directions, with a 0.3 m surfaced shoulder and a 1.7 m unsurfaced shoulder.

About 2 200 t of cement and 190 000 m2 of Cape seal will be used in the construction of the 22 m road, which will stretch 11 km out of Swakopmunt to the Swakop uranium plant location.

The project also includes a 2 000 m3 concrete bridge, with 8 spands of 20 m each. The 160-m-long bridge structure will be erected over the Khan river, about 14 km from the mine.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Amec (DFS), Amec and Tenova Bateman (EPCM) and Gibb (bridge and road design).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Swakop Uranium, tel +264 61 300 220 or email admin@swakopuranium.com.na.
Gibb, tel +27 21 469 9100 or fax +27 21 424 5571.
AMEC media contact Frank Stokes, +44 7712 008356 or email frank.stokes@amec.com.
Tenova Bateman, tel +27 11 899 9111, fax +27 11 899 3905 or email enquiries@bateman.com.
Basil Read, Jenny Smith, tel +27 11 418 6466.