LAZARUS AMUKESHEABOUT N$1 billion would be required to revive the Langer Heinrich uranium mine, the Australian group Paladin Energy announced yesterday.
The company announced this on the Australian Stock Exchange’s news platform.
Paladin Energy placed the Langer Heinrich uranium mine which produced about 8,2 tonnes of yellow cake between 2014 and 2017 under care and maintenance between May and August last year because of low uranium prices.
Scott Sullivan, the Paladin Energy chief executive officer, said the board of directors had approved the commencement of “restart pre-feasibility study”, (PFS) that will again intensively deal with reviving the mine.
The Namibian reported last December that the company had appointed a revival team to conduct a concept study on how best to restart mining operations followed by the PFS, to be undertaken in two phases.
“The (concept) study identified improvements to resolve known processing issues we have encountered in the project’s life to date, and also to make well-considered, low-cost investments in the rapid restart option,” Sullivan said.
He added that the concept study has revealed that about N$994 million (AU$100 million) would be needed to revive the mine.
Sullivan explained that about N$238 million would be spent on plant and machinery repairs and improvements, N$39 million on construction, N$218 million on back-end upgrades, and about N$490 million on working capital.
The study, which will commence next month, will see the PFS focus on improvements to ensure that the restart of the mine maximises value; improves mineral resource definition through highest-grade drilling and development; confirms processing and operational improvements; and reduces operating costs while improving operations.
“The PFS would also examine Langer Heinrich’s capacity to produce a saleable vanadium product as a way of increasing the project’s long-term value. As a co-product credit, this would effectively lower Langer Heinrich’s cost of uranium production,” Sullivan said.
Vanadium is a hard, silvery-grey, ductile, malleable transition metal used in alloys with titanium and aluminium for jet engines and high-speed aircraft, or gallium in super-conducting magnets.
Top vanadium-producing countries include Russia, China and South Africa.
Langer Heinrich generated about N$7,8 billion between 2014 and 2017, and paid no corporate taxes during that period due to losses. The mine made a loss of about N$876 million in 2017.
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