History of Rössing
Our History
Uranium was discovered in the Namib Desert in 1928, but it was not until intensive exploration in the late 1950s that much interest was shown in the area. After discovering numerous uranium occurrences, Rio Tinto secured the rights to the low-grade Rössing deposits in 1966. Ten years later Rössing Uranium, Namibia's first commercial uranium mine, began operating. Today, Namibia has two significant uranium mines and provides 8 per cent of world uranium oxide mining output, of which 5.3 per cent is produced by us. The mine has a nameplate capacity of 4,500 tonnes of uranium per year and, by the end of 2010, had supplied a total of 118,617 tonnes of uranium oxide to the world.
Location
The mine is located close to the town of Arandis, 70km inland from the coastal town of Swakopmund in Namibia's Erongo Region. Walvis Bay, Namibia's only deepwater harbour, is located 30km south of Swakopmund.
The mine site encompasses a licence area of about 180km2, of which 25km2 are used for mining, waste disposal and processing. Mining is done by blasting, loading and hauling from the main open pit, referred to as the SJ pit, before the uranium-bearing rock is processed to produce uranium oxide. The open pit currently measures 3km by 1.5km, and is 390m deep.
Click on the map to enlarge
Rio Tinto is the majority shareholder of Rössing Uranium Limited, with 69 per cent of the shares. The Namibian Government has a 3 per cent shareholding, and the majority (51 per cent) voting power on issues of national interest. The Iranian Foreign Investment Company owns 15 per cent, a stake that was acquired during the set-up of the company in the early 1970s. The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa owns 10 per cent, while local individual shareholders own a combined 3 per cent shareholding. The shareholders do not have the right to any portion of production.