0OPUWO: Namibia East China Non-Ferrous Investment, a mining company, says it has discovered large deposits of iron ore in the Kunene Region.
The General Manager of Namibia East China Non-Ferrous Investment, Ming Li said they discovered a deposit of 2.37 billion tonnes of iron ore which has a lifespan of about 100 years, even if the resources were to be mined at a fast rate of 20 million tonnes per year.
Ming gave this information to the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Tjekero Tweya who was at the exploration camp in the Kunene Region on Saturday to gain first-hand information about the discovery.
The deputy minister will be going to China sometime soon to further negotiation on the development of this high value industrial iron ore in Namibia.
“This is part of our evolution towards the goals of becoming an industrialised country, as stated in our Vision 2030. This discovery will take us one step closer towards industrialisation,” noted Tweya.
The discovery was made some 30 kilometers south of the main town of Opuwo, at Orumana village.
According to the geologists on site, the iron ore runs from the northeast to the southwest direction for a distance of seven kilometers, and it covers a thick layer of about 160 metres in depth.
The iron ore was discovered in one of the six Exploration and Prospecting Licenses (EPLs) of the Namibia East China Non-Ferrous Investments company, numbered 4432.
The discovery was also confirmed by South African Mining Company Coffee Mining, which forwarded a summary report of samples from the 47 holes drilled in the EPL to their laboratories there.
The holes were drilled there since last year.
“We received the confirmation and report of the estimated tonnes of iron ore in EPL 4432 from the laboratories in South Africa on 17 August 2012, and we are sure that there is more of that iron ore in the Kunene Region,” said Ming.
According to Ming, another 2 billion tonnes of iron ore will be unearthed at another one of their EPLs in the Kunene Region soon. He said they are still exploring that site further, and they have currently only drilled 27 holes that have showed high potential.
“The plan is to mine the iron ore after opening an industrial town next to Opuwo in order to produce all finished iron products from the Kunene Region, and to supply them to the world from here. With the second discovery, mining would be able to go on for more than 200 years,” said Ming.