Yearbook 2008
Namibia. In June, Namibia issued a license to the French
nuclear energy company AREVA to extract uranium at
Trekkopje, about 30 km west of the capital Windhoek. AREVA
plans to invest US $ 750 million in the mine, which is
expected to become the world's largest when it comes into
operation at the end of 2009. With an annual production of
approximately 3,500 tonnes, the mine is expected to have a
service life of about nine years.
At the end of October, the first ivory auction was held
in nearly a decade in Namibia. More than seven tonnes of ivory
were sold to customers from China and Japan, bringing in $
1.1 million. According to
Countryaah reports, the auction was approved by CITES - the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora - and was followed by a further number
of ivory sales in southern Africa. Most of the ivory had
been collected from elephants that died a natural death.
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