Name of the Mine
Langer Heinrich mine.

Location  
Central western Namibia, about 80 km east of Swakopmund and 85 km north-east of the Walvis Bay harbour.

Mine Owner/s  
Paladin Energy (75%).

Brief Description  
The Langer Heinrich mine is a globally significant, long-life operation, having already produced more than 43-million pounds of uranium over ten years, prior to operations being suspended in 2018. 

At full production, the Langer Heinrich mine yearly uranium output is enough to supply more than ten 1 000 MWe nuclear power plants for a year.

Brief History  
The Langer Heinrich deposit was discovered in 1973. 

Paladin acquired Langer Heinrich Uranium and its assets from Aztec Resources in August 2002.

The mine was put on care and maintenance in 2018 owing to a sustained low uranium price. The decision to return the Langer Heinrich mine to production was announced in July 2022.
The mine restarted production in March 2024.

Primary Metals/Minerals  
Uranium.

Secondary Metals/Minerals  
Vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅).

Geology/Mineralisation  
Langer Heinrich is a surficial calcrete-type uranium deposit. The deposit is situated in the 15-km-long paleodrainage system located within the Gawib river valley between the Langer Heinrich and Schifferberg mountains.

Reserves  
The Langer Heinrich mine ore reserves were estimated at 84.8-million tonnes grading 448 parts per million (ppm) uranium containing 83.8-million pounds of uranium as at June 30, 2023.

Resources  
The mine had a Joint Ore Reserve Committee-compliant mineral resource as at June 30, 2023, of 140.1-million tonnes containing 128.1-million pounds of uranium at a grade of 415 ppm and 41.5-million pounds of V₂O₅ grading at 135 ppm V₂O₅ at a cutoff grade of 200 ppm uranium, with a cutoff grade of 250 ppm uranium applied to stockpiles.

Type of Mine
Openpit.

Mining Method  
Conventional truck-and-excavator. The shape of the deposit means that the operation shares similarities with strip mining in that mining operations will move along a paleovalley.

Major Infrastructure/Equipment  
The mine comprises established openpits, waste dumps, ore pads, haul roads, workshops and offices, water and power supply, an established processing facility and operational tailings storage facilities. 

Prospects  
Paladin states that significant growth optionality exists at Langer Heinrich through mine life extension, exploration upside, plant optimisation and ore sorting.

Contact Details 
Paladin Energy
Tel +61 8 9423 8100
Email paladin@paladinenergy.com.au

Sources
Paladin Energy. Website: https://www.paladinenergy.com.au/