URANIUM MINING IN MALAWI BY PATRICK MEDIUS NYIRENDA ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES, ENERGY AND MINING, MALAWI

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1 URANIUM MINING IN MALAWI BY PATRICK MEDIUS NYIRENDA ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES, ENERGY AND MINING, MALAWI

2 OUTLINE Introduction History of Mining in Malawi Operations at Kayelekera Uranium Mining Rehabilitation Works Care and maintenance Conclusion

3 INTRODUCTION Malawi, located in southeast Africa, is known as 'the warm heart of Africa'. The word Malawi means frames of fire. Malawi is bordered by Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia to the north north-east, east-south-west and west respectively.

4 The country is 900km long, its width varies between 80km and 160km. The country's population is about 16 million. Malawi has a total surface area of about 118,000 square kilometers 20% of which is covered by Lake Malawi. Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, is located in the country s central region with a population of978,700 (as of 2014).

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6 Malawi s economy is mainly agro-based. Agriculture contributes about 80% to the GDP. Major cash crops include: tobacco, tea, coffee, sugarcane and cotton. Miningsectorcontributesabout10%totheGDPbut itisexpectedtoincreaseto20%by2020.

7 History of Mining in Malawi MininginMalawistartedinthe1970swithemphasison coal for industrial use. There are two medium scale and several small scale mines for coal, all of which are located in the north of Malawi. In the early 1980s exploration for other minerals was commissioned. In 1981 deposit of uranium ore was discovered at Kayelekera in the north. Gemstone mining has been done in the central and northern regions. Meanwhile, deposits of low grade uranium, rare earth elements,, niobium, zircon, tantalum and monazite have been discovered in many parts.

8 Uranium Mining ThereisonlyoneforUraniummineinMalawi.The mine is located at Kayelekera in the border district of Karonga about 85 km from Tanzania border. KayelekeraMine is located 52 km from Lake Malawi Africa s third largest lake.

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10 Themineisdesignedtogiveanannualproductionof 3.3Mlb U3O8 from the processing of 1.5Mtpa of sandstone and associated ores by grinding, acid leaching, resin-in-pulp extraction, elution, precipitation and drying to produce saleable product. Open pit mining commenced in June 2008 to develop initial stockpiles, with the first blast occurring on 24 July Commissioning began in January 2009 with first production achieved mid April.

11 1997 : Acquisition of Kayelekera deposit : Resource base exploration and waiting for uranium market to improve : BFS, EIA completed. Development Agreement negotiated. Project Finance Secured : Establishing Kayelekera Mine Construction Phase ( ) Production Ramp-up ( ) : Full production (5 years after ` decision to mine).

12 Paladin (Africa) Limited is a Malawian company incorporated 01 August Company ownership: Paladin Energy Ltd 85% Government of Malawi 15% PAL holds ML 152 and one exploration licence in the north Four EPL applications pending.

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16 High rainfall area water management is the key environmental issue. Open pit is 1 km long x 500 m wide and 100 m deep. It contains 14Mt ore & 31 Mt of waste rock. The KayelekeraMine footprint is quite small, with all facilities established within a compact area. Final disturbed area will be 2.8 square km when all dumps are constructed.

17 Pit Dumps Plant site Run-off water ponds Camp TSF Fresh water pond

18 Safety and Health Health and safety remains a key focus of management and all employees Medical clinic is available on site Vector control, HIV/AIDS and malaria programs are maintained NOSA safety system is maintained Environment Environmental Management Plan has been developed and subjected to external peer review Radiation Radiation Management Plan will be continued.

19 Environmental Management Plans for KUM addresses: Surface water Groundwater Erosion Vegetation and flora Weed Fauna Non-mineral waste Hazardous materials Dust Air quality Noise and vibration Greenhouse gas Tailings Waste rock Fire Rehabilitation Biodiversity

20 Rehabilitation Works

21 The operator developed Decommissioning and Rehabilitation Plans Environmental bond is in place to address issues of remediation and rehabilitation Currently the company is undertaking progressive rehabilitation to reduce the amount of work and costs at the end of the project

22 Care & Maintenance KUM is currently under care and maintenance since April, 2014 The decision was based on two factors: Continued depressed price for uranium oxide since March 2011 following the nuclear reactor damage caused by Fukushima earthquake and tsunami; and High operational cost since the mine operates on diesel generators and long distance to the port of export.

23 Since all wastewater and storm water are recycled during milling, the status as at now (care and maintenance) if not checked, may result into unplanned overflows. This has necessitated a decision to treat the wastewater and discharge the treated effluent into the environment to reduce the volumes.

24 Options to Resolve Surplus Water at KUM A do nothing option would result in unplanned flows to the environment simply not an option This left only one practical option -to treat surplus water to an acceptable standard for release to the environment Components of the existing uranium processing plant have been converted into a water treatment plant The water treatment method is a conventional lime and barium chloride application followed by solid-liquid separation, then neutralisationwith sulfuric acid and final mixing with local river water

25 Water Management at KUM Water Balance

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27 Water Treatment Plant Development Laboratory trials commenced in March 2014 Results were very favourable with the removal of all metals including U and Ra Full scale water treatment plant commenced in July 2014 Trials have been completed on RWP2 and blend of RWP2/TSF water Laboratory results have been confirmed Water treatment plant has been commissioned and is fully operational

28 Application to Discharge and Approvals Process Relevant legislation is the Water Resources Act 2013 PAL engaged with the WRD to discuss situation and to review the proposal WRD provided guidance and instruction on the proposal PAL submitted an application to discharge effluent into public water on 30/7/14 The application was assessed by the WRD and the Technical Committee (16/9/14) with a recommendation being made to the Minister The Minister has approved the recommendation (22/10/14)

29 WRD personnel will accompany KM Environment Department personnel on sampling events Continuous automated controls in WTP that ensures that the treatment process is working based on ph, out of specification measurements force plant to shut down Samples are analysed by internal and external laboratories Fully equipped on site laboratory, and a separate environmental lab with ICP-OES equipped Four hourly analysis of critical parameters of U and SO4 in the WTP Twice per shift (4 per day) analysis of key parameters in the discharge line to the Sere River at 3 locations for ph, EC, TSS, Ca, SO4, U, Ra226,COD, DO Inline magflow meters to automatically measure volume

30 13 locations up and downstream of the discharge point All discharge criteria parameters analysed by KM site lab: Biweekly downstream of discharge point (4 locations) Weekly distant downstream of discharge point (2 locations) Monthly upstream of discharge point (7 locations) All discharge criteria parameters analysed by External Lab: Monthly all locations (16 locations) Additional parameters for confirmatory analysis by External Lab Monthly all locations (16 locations)

31 Conclusion Although Malawi is relatively new in uranium mining, there is still a need to ensure that the industry is properly regulated especially on prevention of creating legacy sites which are expensive to rehabilitate. Efforts by various institutions and RSLS in particular are appreciated as they provide Malawi with vital information and guidance on the subject matter.