WINDHOEK, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Swakop Uranium expects to reach a design production capacity of an annual 6,000 tonnes of uranium oxide by 2028 at its Husab Mine in Namibia, up from the current output of 5,300 tonnes, the company has said.
"At that particular stage, I would dare to say that we will become the second-largest producing asset, if not the first," said Irvinne Simataa, executive vice president at Swakop Uranium, at a mining expo on Thursday.
"We are now fully ramped up at 120 million tonnes drilled, blasted, and hauled," he said.
The life of the mine has been extended to 2044, backed by a resource base of approximately 315 kilotonnes, Simataa said, adding that additional geological work is ongoing.
To sustain future output, the company has reconstituted its exploration program with a 1.4-billion-Namibian-dollar (about 78.8 million U.S. dollars) commitment to drill 680,000 meters over seven years, including 100,000 meters planned in 2025.
"The intention, of course, is to be able to find another Husab within Husab," Simataa said, adding that the project includes 21 rigs currently operating on a 60,000-hectare tenement.
Swakop Uranium is a joint venture between China General Nuclear Power Corporation and Namibia's state-owned Epangelo Mining Company. ■
