Rosh Pinah: Mine town

Augetto GraigWelcome to Rosh Pinah, the quintessential mining town, unproclaimed and run by RoshSkor - a joint venture owned by the two mines that dominate the settlement, Trevali’s Rosh Pinah Zinc mine and Vedanta’s Skorpion Zinc. Town manager Alexander Maasdorp takes the time to welcome visitors with a smile, a cup of coffee and interesting conversation. Of course, his favourite topic is the aspirations of this community isolated in the southern Namib desert, nestled among the desolate peaks of the Huns mountains.“Nobody is born in Rosh Pinah, that is one interesting thing. Because the town in not proclaimed, birth-registration cannot be done here. Though we have a state clinic, it has no maternity ward. Also, our private clinic is mostly for emergencies, although we have applied for them to be able to keep people overnight,” he said. Proclamation comingTown proclamation is imminent, said Maasdorp, who leads the local drive for it. “There is a drive for the proclamation, which RoshSkor and the mines all want to achieve. We want Rosh Pinah to be a place where employees can own the houses they stay in,” he added. “Rosh Pinah has many very interesting people - some who have lived here for more than 30 years; some who have left and came back; some who want to retire here. It has totally changed now and not only miners live here. “Here, you find a lot of people who want to help each other. We want to be a safe, clean town where utilities and services are available,” he said. Private residents will get first right of refusal once the land comes up for sale after proclamation, he said. For now, the town land belongs to the government and, “for us to expand, we have to go to the regional council”. “Not being proclaimed puts our town at a disadvantage in terms of services from government. For example, we do not benefit from rural electrification and cannot make use of the initiate to further electrify the informal settlement. Electricity tariffs are high - not so expensive cost-wise, but we don’t get the same incentives,” he added.Conducive environmentMaasdorp elaborated on the efforts made since the forming of the joint venture in 2000 to ensure mine employees live in a conducive environment that can also help to attract new talent to the mines. “As town management, we do municipal services,” he said. However, payment for the provision of these services means that RoshSkor does have to increase local tariffs from time to time.As with mining, information is considered very important in providing these services effectively. Their latest survey in January determined that more than 5 000 people call Rosh Pinah home, although this has come down from about 7 500 before Skorpion Zinc had an open pit wall failure and had to close operations prematurely in 2020. Hopes are high that conversion of the Skorpion refinery and restarting of mining will soon add new impetus to the growth of the town. Of the population, about 1 200 children attend the local government primary and high schools, or are enrolled at one of the private pre-primary and primary schools in the town. A number of day-care centres are also run in the formal and informal areas of the town. “Driving into the town, one is met with the view of the informal settlement, Tutungeni, and that sets the mind to think about what to expect, but very clean,” he said. RoshSkor also ensures that anyone in the informal settlement is able to connect their homes to sewerage, potable water and electricity infrastructure. The joint venture also manages the provision of meals to up to 250 vulnerable children three times a week and coordinates individual family outreaches.Green in the desert “Entering the town side, you find all these trees and this greenery in the middle of the desert. It is a unique set-up,” Maasdorp said. Rosh Pinah shares Biblical connotations, with many of the place names in the area referring specifically to the capstone. He believes the settlement can become an example of mutual cooperation and better management to illustrate how to establish a town. “We are awaiting the outcome of our sustainability study which looks at life in the town beyond Life of Mine. Will there be industries and investments to fund the town after proclamation? We have seen Oranjemund and Arandis do it, and we have learnt from what went right, but where can we improve? Perhaps we can be world leaders? Why not the Rosh Pinah story as a recipe for others?” he asked. He expects the study will show the next steps to follow and what further input is needed from relevant government ministries. “This is a government-led initiative and we are their partners,” he explained. Already the town has a local police station, ministry of labour offices and the state clinic. Discussions with Namibia Traffic Information System (NaTIS) have begun to strengthen traffic regulation. They also look forward to construction of a constituency clinic or a district hospital as suggested by the health ministry. “That would have become a central point, but it has been three years since we received the letter and identified a suitable area. We are waiting,” he said. Big commercial banks are present, with branches or at least an automatic teller machine (ATM) in the town. “Immigration issues are difficult as you have to go to Oranjemund, and mines do have non-Namibian employees. But you build up contacts and you go online and you call,” he mentioned. Another development expected to commence as soon as October is the construction of a new solar power park. Big plans“The mines, like Rosh Pinah Zinc, have a lot of plans for the next 15 years, and the town is experiencing development, which is why the sustainability plan is so important to finish now, while the mines are doing well. We are 20km from the Orange River but still water security poses a risk to industries. We can expand, and zinc could also be further developed. Already there is the 5MW solar park supplying NamPower. There are 80 hectares where the mines can put up more solar. They are currently building a 15MW solar park which will offset to Rosh Pinah Zinc,” Maasdorp said.“Clean energy is needed to power the blue fuel cycle and Rosh Pinah boasts 360 days of sunlight a year, with full sunshine 90% of the day except for during the mists. We are uniquely and perfectly situated for solar,” he added. augetto@republikein.com.na

Rosh Pinah: Mine town

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-07

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Rosh Pinah: Mine town

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-07

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