Russia's Rosatom announces mega uranium project in Namibia

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
19 Jul 2023 09:26
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Rosatom expects to produce around 3,000 tonnes of uranium by 2029, creating jobs in southeast Africa.

The Russian Atomic Energy Agency sign is displayed at the World Nuclear Exhibition in Le Bourget, Frace, June 28, 2016 (AFP)

Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear corporation, announces its plans to start mining uranium in Namibia in 2029, Sputnik reports.

"We plan to complete exploration work in 2026 and start mining uranium in 2029 with a mining period of more than 25 years," Rosatom told Sputnik.

The Russian nuclear corporation expects that its total investment in the project will reach up to $500 million, extracting an average of 3,000 tonnes in annual output over 25 years.

Rosatom will employ its Headspring Investments, an entity that is part of its uranium mining holding Uranium One Group, to begin exploration processes in Namibia which is home to 7% of the world's uranium reserves.

The state-owned company says its plans in Nambia will create jobs in the southwest African region, as it will directly employ around 600 people. The plans will also push Namibia's GDP by 1-2% annually.

Furthermore, Rosatom announced that it will commence with pilot mining and processing of the precious element in Tanzania from 2023 to 2025.

"In Tanzania, Rosatom is working on the Mkuju River project with the Nyota deposit, which is one of the largest in the world with a resource reserve of 152 million tonnes of ore."

The pilot stage of production will produce 5 tonnes of yellowcake, a uranium concentrate powder, with the intent of reaching 3,000 tonnes per year. In 2022, the company mined around 7,000 tonnes of uranium. 4,500 of which were produced by Uranium One Group.

Rosatom is also the world's largest foreign nuclear power plant constructor and operator, owning a market share of 74% in the sector. 37% of the nuclear reactors being built worldwide are being constructed by the Russian company, as the corporation cooperates and invests in projects that spread all around the globe, from Latin America to East Asia.