Farmers cheer protection of aquifers
Farmers attending the Agricultural Outlook Conference in Windhoek this week cheered when agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein said his ministry’s policy position is that no harmful mining activities shall occur in aquifers.This includes exploration, drilling and in-situ leaching at aquifers.
Schlettwein said that this is particularly the case for the proposed exploration drilling activities in the Stampriet aquifer, adding that there are similar activities in other aquifers.
He said that this policy decision is to safeguard the quality of groundwater resources.
Valuable resource
The minister said to date about 60% of potable water sources for household and industrial use is groundwater.
"This water source is to be optimally utilised and effectively guarded to serve the country and future generations better."
Farmers have expressed fears that mining activities could damage the Stampriet aquifer, which provides groundwater resources to communities living in the Omaheke and Hardap regions as well as adjacent communities in Botswana and South Africa.
Holes in the ground
Headspring Investments, a subsidiary of Uranium One, part of the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom, is currently conducting exploration drilling on Farm Tripoli, situated 15 kilometres west of Leonardville.
Headspring Investments has held an exclusive prospecting licence for uranium since 2011 in an area covering 7 000 square kilometres. The company said it is considering investing US$500 million once it gets approval for its mining project.
The company has already drilled 600 boreholes and 29 hydrological boreholes since 2019.
Meanwhile, the Namibia Agricultural Union welcomed a decision by the ministry of agriculture to withdraw two permits issued for the drilling of 37 boreholes for exploration and hydrogeological purposes in the Stampriet basin.
Do not permit
Retired geologist Roy Miller has said that the proposed in-situ leach mining in the Leonardville area for uranium could destroy the Stampriet aquifer and should under no circumstances be allowed to occur.
This method is the source of the concern.
Miller previously explained that in-situ leach mining involves drilling a pattern of boreholes into the orebody.
"In the centre of each pattern is a single abstraction borehole. The remaining boreholes, forming the margin of the pattern, are injection boreholes. A leach solution of groundwater and sulphuric acid, similar to battery acid, is pumped down into the orebody.”
Well-managed
Meanwhile, Schlettwein further said that the strategic shift towards intensive agriculture demands that the nexus between water-supply security and food security be effectively strengthened.
"So are the attendant investments in and effective stewardship for the water resource.
"This involves the replacement and upgrading of the ageing bulk-water infrastructure and distribution infrastructure."
He said it requires the development of additional water resources, including sea and brackish water desalination and trans-boundary water resources, to be linked into the national integrated water supply system.
It also requires capacity development of competent water resource managers.