Hot Features
Premium
Trade smarter, not harder: Unleash your inner pro with our toolkit and live discussions.
North River has submitted its Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan to the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism, for its Namib Lead & Zinc Project.
Colin Christian and Associates, an experienced Namibian environmental consultancy, completed the EIA on behalf of North River.
The report is the culmination of almost two years of an independent and comprehensive investigation into the environmental affects of re-opening the Namib Lead & Zinc mine, which was previously operational from 1965-1992.
Detailed studies relating to the following aspects were undertaken:
· Air Quality
· Hydrogeological Assessment
· Surface Water
· Flora
· Fauna
· Archaeology
· Air Quality and Soils
· Legal and Policy Review
In addition, public and private consultations were held with Interested and Affected Parties (the “IAPs”), which included local residents, businesses, the local council, government departments representing service providers, TransNamib (rail), Namwater (national water authority), Nampower (national power authority), Namport (Walvis Bay port authority), and Directorate of Parks. All of the issues and concerns raised by the IAPs have been assessed in the EIA and EMP and all significant impacts have been mitigated.
The submission of the EIA and EMP is a requirement for mining applications in Namibia, with a positive outcome being the issue of an Environmental Clearance Certificate (“ECC”). The ECC is a prerequisite for the issue of a mining licence.
As previously reported, North River intends to complete its Definitive Feasibility Study (the “DFS”) during Q1 2014. Following completion of the DFS, the mining licence application will be submitted.
Martin French, Managing Director, commented that “The EIA/EMP is a long lead-time item in the DFS process. Its completion is therefore an important milestone for the project and we are pleased to have submitted this to the authorities in very good time, some months ahead of our application for a mining licence. Additionally, we are pleased to report that the DFS remains on schedule and within budget.”
