Uranium One to use latest technology at Mkuju River

Dar es Salaam. Mantra Tanzania Limited – a subsidiary of Uranium One Holdings and which owns the Mkuju River Project at Namtumbo in Ruvuma Region – is deploying the latest technology as it plans to start mining the silvery-white metal in the country within two years.

Uranium One’s vice president and chief operations officer Andrey Shutov said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the company is deploying an in-situ recovery (ISR) technology in the endeavours to ensure that extraction of the radioactive metals is undertaken in the most possible environmentally-friendly process.

“The initial production stages would start in two to three years from now…..Initially, the plan was to deploy an open-pit mine but about two years ago, we decided to go for the ISR,” said Mr Shutov who was accompanied by the vice president of International Development for Uranium One - which is a subsidiary of Rosatom - Mr Vladmir Hlavinka and Mantra Tanzania’s managing director Fredrick Kibodya.

Rosatom is Russia’s national nuclear corporation which boasts 70 years of experience in the nuclear field. In January 2013, Rosatom bought Uranium One thus turning it (Uranium One) into a wholly-owned enterprise the Russian government.

Also known as In-situ leaching, the ISR or solution mining is basically used to recover minerals like copper and uranium through bore holes drilled into a deposit as opposed to the traditional open-pit and underground mining.

“It is a progressive safe method mining process where liquids are used to recover minerals from the ground. It doesn’t require breaking the ground to extract uranium underground so it is the most environmentally friendly system compared to open-pit and underground mining,” said Mr Shutov.

Uranium One is using a similar technology in its mining operations at its six projects in Kazakhstan as well as at its Willow Creek in the United States of America.

According to Mr Hlavinka, Mantra is Uranium One’s key project in Africa, noting however that the company also has operations in Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria and South Africa.

“Mkuju River is on top ten in terms of uranium deposits in Africa. Over $200 million (over Sh440 billion) has already been invested into the project so far. Development of the project, using the ISR technology will turn Tanzania into a leader in uranium mining technologies in Africa,” he said.

Speaking on the benefits of the project, Mr Kibodya said apart from creating up to 1,600 jobs during certain stages of the development of the mine, the venture is also supporting conservation of wildlife within the Selous Game Reserve where it is located.