Namibia-based Trekkopje uranium operation, located just outside Sawkopmund, reached a milestone of 820 lost-time injury- (LTI-) free days on March 5.
French public multinational industrial conglomerate Areva, which owns the 3 000 t/y mine, emphasises safety first, and aims to sustain an LTI frequency rate of zero for 2013, as part of its Action 2016 campaign.
“The health and safety of our employees is first in our daily activities. This milestone is a manifest of the technical and managerial capacity of a safety culture shared by all to ensure a safer work environment,” says Trekkopje mine manager Paul Day.
During a celebratory ceremony by departments on site, Trekkopje safety inspector Roy Liesching thanked all employees for their contributions towards zero medical treatment cases for the same period.
“Let us continue with this benchmark in health and safety standards at Trekkopje. I am extremely proud of the team’s achievement, and it again demonstrates the immense capacity of Areva’s Namibian workforce,” he said.
At the start of 2012, Areva Resources Namibia directly employed about 200 people in the development of the shallow, high-tonnage, low-grade calcrete surface deposit. The project created about 1 800 indirect jobs for suppliers and subcontractors.
Further, Areva aims to boost the local economy through its mining operations and other projects as well as through the training programmes it offers.
For example, Areva Resources Namibia is involved in the development of mining skills. It has created a training centre in Swakopmund and has set up partnerships with various educational structures.
Areva Resources Namibia is now working with communities in the Erongo region, which includes Swakopmund, Arandis and Spitzkoppe, in multiple social projects in the areas of education, health, local economic development and athletics sponsorship.
The Trekkopje project also entails the development of a seawater desalination plant, as Namibia is a water-scarce country.
Located at Wlotzkasbaken, 30 km north of Swakopmund, the plant supplies all the water that will be consumed at the Trekkopje mine, which is located in the desert, about 40 km away. The plant will produce 20-million cubic metres of potable water a year.