Xinfeng trucks running again
Omaruru residents will once again have to get used to the rumble of Xinfeng's trucks hauling lithium ore through the town day and night.
According to locals, a cloud of dust can be seen hanging just above the lithium mine outside the town. Yesterday morning, one resident apparently saw nine large dump trucks drive by within five minutes.
Ernest Wetha, Erongo regional councillor responsible for the Dâures constituency, said this is not a new development, as many trucks - especially loaded with copper from Zambia - travel back and forth on their way to the port in Walvis Bay.
Meanwhile, the recent increase in Xinfeng's trucks brings an injection to the town's economy, with petrol stations and shops benefitting from the truck drivers' business, he said.
According to him, the controversial Chinese lithium miner has apparently written to the minister of mines and energy to obtain permission to export 100 000 tonnes of lithium ore. An opinion from the attorney-general reportedly recommended that permission be granted - despite minister Tom Alweendo’s resistance, he said.
Other plant
Wetha said the ore is being exported for commercial and testing purposes. The tests are carried out in China to better design a value-adding plant destined for Xinfeng's other, newer lithium mine outside Uis.
The Chinese company wants to complete that plant by December, he said.
A total of 62 drivers were appointed for two weeks to drive its fleet of trucks, Wetha said.
He added that he personally intervened to ensure that at least 10 of the temporary appointments are people who live in the surrounding areas. Furthermore, together with representatives of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia and the labour minister, he negotiated that 37 general workers' short-term contracts be extended until December, he said.
Export ban
However, mines ministry acting executive director Bryan Eiseb denied that Xinfeng is allowed to export ore.
"The ministry did not allow the export of lithium by Xinfeng," he said.
A national ban on the export of unprocessed ore of certain minerals, including lithium, was introduced in June.
This after Alweendo approached Cabinet to put the ban in place. Alweendo is also the main respondent in a High Court case in which Xinfeng is trying to reverse a decision to revoke its Omaruru mining licence. The court case before Judge Ramon Maasdorp continued for pre-trial proceedings yesterday.
Questions directed to Xinfeng and its lawyer Nambili Mhata about the contents of the trucks and the developments at the mines, as well as progress on the value-addition plant, went unanswered.
Further questions to the mines ministry were also not answered by the time of going to print.
According to locals, a cloud of dust can be seen hanging just above the lithium mine outside the town. Yesterday morning, one resident apparently saw nine large dump trucks drive by within five minutes.
Ernest Wetha, Erongo regional councillor responsible for the Dâures constituency, said this is not a new development, as many trucks - especially loaded with copper from Zambia - travel back and forth on their way to the port in Walvis Bay.
Meanwhile, the recent increase in Xinfeng's trucks brings an injection to the town's economy, with petrol stations and shops benefitting from the truck drivers' business, he said.
According to him, the controversial Chinese lithium miner has apparently written to the minister of mines and energy to obtain permission to export 100 000 tonnes of lithium ore. An opinion from the attorney-general reportedly recommended that permission be granted - despite minister Tom Alweendo’s resistance, he said.
Other plant
Wetha said the ore is being exported for commercial and testing purposes. The tests are carried out in China to better design a value-adding plant destined for Xinfeng's other, newer lithium mine outside Uis.
The Chinese company wants to complete that plant by December, he said.
A total of 62 drivers were appointed for two weeks to drive its fleet of trucks, Wetha said.
He added that he personally intervened to ensure that at least 10 of the temporary appointments are people who live in the surrounding areas. Furthermore, together with representatives of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia and the labour minister, he negotiated that 37 general workers' short-term contracts be extended until December, he said.
Export ban
However, mines ministry acting executive director Bryan Eiseb denied that Xinfeng is allowed to export ore.
"The ministry did not allow the export of lithium by Xinfeng," he said.
A national ban on the export of unprocessed ore of certain minerals, including lithium, was introduced in June.
This after Alweendo approached Cabinet to put the ban in place. Alweendo is also the main respondent in a High Court case in which Xinfeng is trying to reverse a decision to revoke its Omaruru mining licence. The court case before Judge Ramon Maasdorp continued for pre-trial proceedings yesterday.
Questions directed to Xinfeng and its lawyer Nambili Mhata about the contents of the trucks and the developments at the mines, as well as progress on the value-addition plant, went unanswered.
Further questions to the mines ministry were also not answered by the time of going to print.
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