The Namibia Economist

Namdeb turns challenges into opportunities

Namdeb’s mission is to produce diamonds profitably, sustainably and responsibly for the benefit of its shareholders and other stakeholders whilst making a lasting contribution to Namibia.
Since its establishment in 1994, Namdeb says it has successfully ensured that the country’s most inaccessible diamond resources are turned into wealth that touches the lives of all Namibians.
Today the more easily-accessible alluvial deposits have been depleted and the remaining reserves are harder to mine conventionally. Over the last few years Namdeb has been investigating new technologies to mine profitably the wetter areas in the inshore and innershelf part of their onshore licences.
Project 2050 was launched in 2010. Through this project, Namdeb’s Strategic Project team continues to investigate and accelerate critical stay-in-business projects which have the potential to extend the life of mine.
Currently, the portfolio of projects include the Inshore Project, Sendelingsdrif Project, Red Area Complex, Elizabeth Bay Optimisation and the Southern Coastal Beach Accretion, to name a few.
All the projects incorporate milestones set up by the Namdeb Environmental Rehabilitation plan and therefore currently active areas and associated infrastructure will be rehabilitated when it becomes redundant in the future.
The anticipated capital expenditure for Namdeb over the next 5 years, totals ±N$2 billion, excluding equipment replacement. From 2016 onwards, a further estimated N$4.5 billion will be spent on the Midwater and Inshore projects to ensure a life of mine beyond 2050.
Although the Namdeb mining licence areas have been mined for decades, this world-class deposit still has much potential to provide long-term benefits to the Namibian economy. “As Namdeb continues to treat challenges as opportunities there is certainly a future that lies ahead!”

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