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| Business |
| Government grants Paladin new uranium exploration licences |
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by
Frank Phiri, 23 February 2006
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07:46:48
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Government has granted three additional licences to Australian-owned miner Paladin (Africa) Limited to allow the firm extend the search for uranium in the periphery of its Kayelekera Uranium Project in Karonga.
The three exclusive prospecting licenses (EPL) cover Mpata, Chilongo and Chilumba near Lake Malawi.
These licences Paladin will extend the mine life of the Kayelekera Project which has since moved into the Bankable Feasibility Study (BSF) phase.
Documents deposited by Paladin at the Sydney-based Australian Stock Exchange (ASE) where it is listed show that Minister of Mines Henry Chimunthu Banda issued the licences on December 30, 2005.
The documents also reveal independent results of drilling works by Hellman and Schofield (H&S;) showing that there is more potential for uranium in the prospective areas than was previously thought.
H&S; is an international independent firm of Australian-based mineral resource specialists.
Commissioner for Mines Charles Kaphwiyo confirmed on Tuesday that the minister recently granted the said licences.
He said the licences are valid until Paladin comes back with further substantive results of the actual deposits. The normal validity period—which is subject to renewal—is three years.
Kaphwiyo said a team of experts from Paladin came to Malawi last month to lay the ground work for environmental impact assessments (EIA) and that a Malawian firm was subcontracted to assist with the process.
Paladin’s Lilongwe-based Country Representative Martin McAllen confirmed the developments in a separate interview.
He said the company, which is already at mining stage of uranium at its Namibian site of Langer Heinrich, has since completed exploration works at Kayelekera and moved into the BFS.
The BFS should allow Paladin to raise capital for developing further stages of the Kayelekera project, based on its viability.
McAllen said actual mining at Kayelekera is scheduled for 2008 and 150 skilled labourers are expected to be recruited. Preference will be given to Malawians.
He said Paladin hopes to produce 2.5 1 million lbs a year of uranium ore also commonly referred to as ‘yellow cake’.
Some environment lobby groups have raised fears that the uranium project could pose a danger to people and natural resources in the area.
Both McAllen and Kaphwiyo described the fears as mere illusion, saying the project would give due respect to findings of the EIA currently underway and provisions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“The mining of uranium is currently safely conducted in several large international mines in accordance with IAEA regulations. Paladin will scrupulously adhere to these regulations,” said McAllen.
Uranium is a metal commonly used for generating nuclear power.
As energy supply shortages are expected to peak worldwide due to ramifications of rampant environmental degradation, analysts have tipped civilian nuclear energy to become a stopgap alternative.
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