Staff Reporter
CABINET, the highest decision-making body of the Namibian government, has instructed relevant ministries to collect water samples in the affected potential new mining area to determine water quality.
The move comes after inquiries were received from producers who had been contacted by government officials seeking to collect water samples from boreholes in the Stampriet Aquifer.
“A task force was assigned to collect groundwater samples in the Stampriet Transboundary Aquifer System (STAS), which is roughly located in the Hardap Region, extending to the southern part of the Omaheke Region and the southeastern part of the Khomas Region. The campaign is expected to take place from 18 to 24 November 2024. This effort aims to determine the uranium background from STAS-wide concentrations and to collect groundwater samples for radionuclide analysis at a total of thirty strategically located monitoring and production boreholes,” said Tanja Dahl, spokesperson of the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU).
She added that the main objective of the extended groundwater sampling campaign is to determine, on a regional scale, values of radionuclides, stable isotopes, major ions, and trace elements/metals in groundwater throughout the Stampriet Artesian Basin (SAB). The campaign will also identify zones, with reasonable accuracy, where uranium limits for safe drinking water may have been exceeded.
The ministries involved in this process include the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR), the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT), the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), and the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS).
