The Namibian Government has lifted a ten year moratorium on new uranium exploration and production licenses and has rescinded its long-standing Namibian ownership and management clause.
One recent beneficiary of deregulation is Australian explorer, Marenica Energy*, which has acquired exploration licenses for five tenements covering 180km of prospective territory.
With its uranium mining sector currently ranked fifth globally, it is the Namibian Government’s belief that aggressive deregulation will incentivize strategic investments that will transform the nation into the world’s 4th largest producer.
*Marenica Energy is the developer and patent-holder of the U-pgrade beneficiation process for surficial uranium projects. U-pgrade technology has been licensed for use at Deep Yellow’s Tumas Uranium Project, where it has been theorized that the process will dramatically transform the economics of the deposit, lowering capital and operating costs by as much as 50%, compared to conventional processing, as > 95% of mass of the ore is rejected prior to leaching. Incorporation of the technology into development of Tumas significantly lowers the price hurdle of the Project.
