Russia's nuclear energy giant Rosatom plans to start mining uranium in Namibia in 2029, the company told RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday.
Investment in the project will be up to $500 million, while uranium output is expected to reach 3,000 tons annually.
“We plan to complete exploration work in 2026 and start mining uranium in 2029 with a mining period of more than 25 years,” the company said.
The exploration of uranium deposits in Namibia will be carried out by Headspring Investments, part of Rosatom’s international uranium mining holding, Uranium One Group.
The company also revealed that a large deposit was discovered during recent exploration work in the southwest African country, where 7% of the world’s uranium reserves are concentrated.
The project will create new jobs in the region and directly employ up to 600 people, while boosting Namibia’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 1-2%, according to Rosatom.
The firm is also due to start pilot mining and processing of uranium ore in Tanzania in 2023-2025.
“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 tons of ore,” the company stated.
At the pilot stage, Rosatom says it will extract 5 tons of uranium concentrate powder known as yellowcake, with a projected capacity of 3,000 tons per year.
In 2022, Rosatom mined nearly 7,000 tons of uranium, of which about 4,500 tons were extracted by Uranium One Group.
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