PERTH (miningweekly.com) − ASX- and TSX-listed uranium hopeful Extract Resources has received environmental approval from Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism for the linear infrastructure to service its proposed Husab uranium mine.

The infrastructure entails access to roads, electricity, telecommunications and water supply.

Extract said on Monday that this was the second and last environmental approval needed for the Husab uranium project, and was in addition to the environmental approval that the company had received in January.

“Receipt of this last environmental approval represents another key milestone as we develop the world’s fourth-largest uranium deposit at Husab,” said Extract MD Jonathan Leslie.

He noted that the company had undertaken extensive specialist environmental studies into the project, and was committed to ensuring that environmental standards at the Husab project adhered to international best practice.

“With the environmental approvals now in place, we look forward to receiving our mining licence from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the application for which was submitted in December 2010.”

It was expected that the Husab mine would be brought into production during the fourth quarter of 2014, with project construction expected to take some 33 months. The project hosts some 500-million pounds of uranium oxide, and has a maiden measured resource of 84-million pounds.

A feasibility study has outlined a 15-million-pound-a-year operation, which would cost around $1.5-billion to develop. Extract has previously reported that it was in negotiations with a number of companies regarding potential offtake and funding deals.
 

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