Rössing Uranium Limited
Rössing Uranium – 48 Years of Working for Namibia
Rössing Uranium, which is majority-owned by China National Uranium Corporation Limited (CNUC), is one of Namibia’s currently three uranium producing mines. It is the World’s longest running open pit uranium mine, celebrated 45 years of working for Namibia in 2021, and is contributing to the social and economic prosperity of the country.
A project proposal to extend the life-of-mine (LoM) to 2036 was approved by the Rössing Board in 2023, supported by the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s extension of Rössing’s mining licence for a further 15 years. The LoM extension requires a north-eastern pushback of the current pit. The tailings storage facility also needs to be extended to accommodate an additional 92 million t of tailings and some plant refurbishments and upgrades are being implemented. The plant currently operates on an annual throughput rate of 9.2 million t per annum. Production in 2023 amounted to 2 920 t U3O8, which represents a 9.8 % increase compared to the 2022 output.
Rössing Uranium currently sells a portion of its product into an existing long-term contract portfolio, and the remaining available production is sold to the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) Group.
Being an employer of choice, Rössing Uranium provides long-term and rewarding employment. The current workforce of some to 1 500 employees consists of 99.3% Namibians. Through employment creation the mine makes significant contributions to society and the economy, and strives to keep the workforce engaged through implementing initiatives that benefit both the company and its employees. Some of these initiatives focus on learning and development (granting of bursaries to support students in various fields; apprenticeship training including bursaries and job attachments for on-the-job learning).
As a major employer and purchaser of goods and services, Rössing Uranium makes a significant annual contribution to economic development in the Erongo Region in particular and to Namibia at large. The mine’s annual procurement spend has a significant “multiplier effect” – the phenomenon where spending by one company creates income for further spending by others. In 2023, local procurement of goods and services for the operations amounted to N$ 2.365 billion. Other contributions include Government revenue through PAYE, royalties, tax and dividends, in addition to salaries paid to our employees.
The Rössing Foundation, established in 1978, implements and facilitates programmes and projects that express corporate social responsibility towards Namibian communities. It undertakes a range of activities across a spectrum of community development, vocational education and training. Well-developed programmes and projects of the Rössing Foundation focus on education, enterprise development (e.g. Ûiba-Ôas Crystal Market near Usakos) and the economic transformation of Arandis (e.g. Dreamland agribusiness), thus supporting the Namibian government’s goals for economic advancement, social progression and infrastructure development. These activities are concentrated in the Erongo Region, but they also fan out to the Omaheke, Hardap, Ohangwena, Oshana, Omusati and Zambezi regions.
The Rössing Foundation has been working in partnership with the Government of Namibia since 1990. Activities include social accountability and school governance projects (e.g. school board training and exchange-exposure programmes between schools to share and learn from each other); strengthening the capacity of teachers and learners, leadership and management programmes and resource sharing and exchanging expertise. To address educational challenges facing Namibia, the Rössing Foundation assists the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture by availing opportunities to teachers and learners to acquire subject content knowledge to improve their competencies in English, Mathematics and the Sciences. To this effect the Rössing Foundation built and operates three state-of-the-art English, Mathematics and Science Centres in Arandis, Swakopmund and Ondangwa. The mobile education centre launched in 2015 is a first for Namibia and is a replica of the successful Mathematics & Science centres.
An Epidemiological Study of Lung Cancer and Selected Other Cancers among Namibian Uranium Workers
