The Yellow Rush

I remember waking up in the crepuscular fog of a Namibian morning, breathing in the sweet, tangy air that rolled in from the coast overnight. The morning twilight was a peaceful daily silence in contrast to sunset, peppered by the raspy croaks of  barking geckos and the braying of donkeys. This morning though, the fog bubbled with sound and movement, as teal Isuzu pickups  rolled out of the research station on the hunt for uranium.
Namibia is a parched African nation, the driest south of the Sahara. Only adaptive and creative plants survive here, so the country is spread wide with plains of plantless gravel. I learned that this sort of landscape is favored by geologists- the lithosphere is laid bare for investigation. Features pop out of the pediplain in sharp relief and interesting anomalies are easy to spot. 

Naturally, this also means that prospective miners have an easy time spotting an opportunity, and in Namibia they have found plenty. The desert beaches of this country have long been known for their placer deposits of diamonds, carried from the interior by the Orange River. The hinterland is rich in copper, tourmaline, and other gems. Since 2007, however, the country has been gripped with a fever for a less wearable substance: uranium.

Yellowcake, a powdered uranium concentrate on its way to enrichment.

The "Uranium Bubble of 2007" was a cataclysmic market event.  Possibly caused by the flooding of one of the world's largest mines in Saskatchewan, the result was an exponential surge in price per pound of uranium. Namibia was already operating a series of first-generation large mines left over from a similar boom in the 70's, but in 2007 it suddenly became lucrative enough for small companies to prospect for the element.

   Image courtesy of (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Celuca), using data reported by the IMF. 

Uranium operations ranged from multi-billion dollar behemoths supplying the national reactors of Australia, France, and China, to small, fly-by-night operations. The latter would turn out to be particularly hasty and destructive prospectors, many companies skimming miles of sensitive desert crust off of the surface.
          Now, in 2011, many of the smaller companies have disappeared, leaving only a few new, active operations. The uranium  bubble may have burst, but Namibia has been left without many of the benefits- the nation has no processing facilities or nuclear reactors. It remains the world's 6th greatest exporter of the stuff. Then again, African turf may remain hotly contested for its strategic value more than anything else. Australian mines are major players internationally, partly because their home country limits them to two operating uranium mines. France, which derives 79% of its power for a nuclear source, has staked large mineral claims in the central Namib. And China has begun to make aggressive claims, backed by a cozy relationship with the top government leaders. 

         Only time will tell if this plays out for the benefits of Namibians. People are hungry for national income and employment (as of 2010, Namibia suffered 33.8% unemployment, barely losing to Macedonia as the world's most under-employed nation.) Experts doubt that the mining will bring long-term stability, having seen the smaller prospectors crumple after the boom. The environmental and health impacts of uranium mining are yet unquantified-but will likely be great in operations where the entire surface layer of soil is scrapped off in order to leach out uranium dioxide. 
        








 This will be a great test both for Namibian regulators, but also the international community, which needs to provide legal and moral support for a nation trying to achieve balance. When the Namibian people wake up in the morning, what will they find? A home rich in diverse arid flora and fauna? A new highway system? Or just wistful regret that no one paid attention while Namibia's mineral heritage slipped away?