Govt issues first uranium mining licence

Brian Benza | Tuesday September 13, 2016 15:48

“The mining licence was signed by the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila and takes effect from September 12, 2016.  “The grant of the mining licence is a significant milestone for the company, following the project’s recent final environmental approval secured in May 2016.

“With the mining licence now granted, the company remains well funded to progress to the next stage of project optimisation works and pre-feasibility study,” read the statement. 

A-Cap, which has a primary listing on the ASX and a secondary on the Botswana bourse, says it now plans to seek admission to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and raise capital for the development of the first uranium mine in Botswana early in the calendar year 2018. 

In 2015, A-Cap announced that the Letlhakane Uranium Project has a capital expenditure of $351 million (P3.7 billion). Botswana is estimated to hold around 1.04 billion tonnes in uranium reserves, in the central part of the country, and the government has issued prospecting licences in the last decade although no production has taken place.

The exploration firm said results of technical studies showed the project would produce up to 3.75 million pounds of the ore in the first five years of its projected 18-year life. The project was ideally located near roads, a railway network and power supply, the company said in a statement, and was also on the site of one of the largest uranium deposits in Africa, with estimated deposits of 261 million pounds.

The company initially came to Botswana for copper-nickel exploration, but went into uranium prospecting when prices for the metal improved. Its current project was previously owned by Falconbird of Japan in the 1970s and 1980s.

Interest in uranium as a source of energy has risen partly because nuclear plants are environmentally friendly as they emit a tiny fraction of carbon dioxide that causes global warming.

A resurgent uranium price meant the project, where explorations started in 2006, was viable, the firm said. Global uranium production had stalled recently due to depressed prices, curtailing exploration activities and the opening of new mines. Minerals that are currently being mined in Botswana include coal, copper, nickel and silver.