70 km inland from the west coast town of Swakopmund is Rossing Uranium Mine. Here, at the southern end of the Namib Desert and the Skeleton Coast , the landscape is inhospitable. The desert in the area is rocky rather than sand with very sparse vegetation.
Rossing Mine is a large open-cast pit of immense proportions and is the third largest mine of its kind in the world. A great pit has been blasted out of the earth and a crater opened up which currently measures 3km by 1.2km. Its depth is 390m and when you stand on the viewing area, tiers of terraces fall away beneath you into this impressive chasm. Today most of the valuable ore comes from the very bottom of the pit and has to be transported to crushing machine on massive trucks.
Uranium was discovered in the Namib Desert in 1926 by a scientist and his wife who were prospectors. It was not until the late 1950s that exploration became more intensive and interest grew. A British Company, Rio Tinto , took over the rights to mining exploration although the ore was found to be very low grade. In 1976 Rossing Uranium Ltd began operating commercially. Today the Namibian Government only has a 3% shareholding in the company.
The uranium ore is found in a granite rock called Alaskite which is a very hard rock. Levels of uranium found in the rock are only slightly higher than would be found naturally so it is expensive and difficult to make the mining profitable. About 3.5 tons of uranium-bearing rock is needed to produce 1kg of uranium oxide.
One billion tons of ore has been mined to date. After processing the end product is uranium oxide. This is exported by ship from Namibia to nuclear power utilities around the world. Uranium oxide then needs further processing before it can be used as fuel for a nuclear reactor that generates electricity. Customer countries for Rossing Uranium are Asia ((46%), USA (32%), Europe (11%), Japan (11%). In the world, Kasakhstan produces most uranium (36%) with Canada close behind (26%). Namibia produces 12%.
This industry is very important to Namibia as there is not a high degree of any kind of manufacturing throughout the whole country. Surprisingly, Namibia does not produce any of its own electricity and the Government is only now in talks with Rossing Mine regarding using the uranium to produce its own nuclear power.
Mining consists of three main activities: drilling and blasting to break the rock (blasting operations are weekly); loading the ore by gigantic shovels onto the trucks; and hauling from the pit (to the processing area or to a stockpile). From the viewing area these massive trucks move almost in slow motion and silently because they are so far down. It’s like looking into a model landscape.
Eventually and not too many years from now, the pit will run out of useful granite so new areas are being blasted and opened up in readiness. Blasting took place during the visit. A huge plume of debris and smoke dust appeared first and then the blast itself was heard.
A very exciting and educational tour.
