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3. Types of licences under the Minerals Act

Before a company can search for or extract uranium it needs to apply for a licence from the Ministry of Mines and Energy. There are different types of licences depending on what the applicant wishes to do. The Minerals Act of 1992 provides for the issuance of the following licences:

• 
  Mining Claim
  
• 
  Non-Exclusive Prospecting Licence (NEPL)
  
• 
  Mineral Licences
  

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  Reconnaissance Licence (RL)
  
• 
  Exclusive Prospecting Licence (EPL)
  
• 
  Mineral Deposit Retention Licence (MDRL)
  
• 
  Mining Licence (ML)
  

The Mining Claim provides mineral rights to small-scale miners with limited financial and other resources. Mining Claims are, therefore, only available to Namibian citizens. In the Erongo Region a lot of small-scale mining is taking place, especially for semi-precious stones around the Spitzkoppe. The Mining Claim is irrelevant to uranium mining. A maximum of ten such claims per person may be held for a three-year period, with the possibility of an indefinite number of extensions.

The Non-Exclusive Prospecting Licence (NEPL) allows the licence holder to prospect anywhere in the country. This includes, according to the Minerals Act, any accessing, extraction or incidental winning of any mineral for the purpose of mineralogical examination, assaying, test work or marketability survey.
A mineral licence can take the form of one of the four mentioned sublicences whereof, the Exclusive Prospecting Licence and the Mining Licence are the most widely known in practice.
A Reconnaissance Licence (RL) is necessary to explore wide areas, usually by remote-sensing and air-borne mapping. Generally, it excludes physical activities. It is the only licence for which an environmental impact assessment is not necessary. This is due to the fact that the kind of activity that is allowed under a RL usually does not result in adverse environmental impacts.
An Exclusive Prospecting Licence (EPL) confers exclusive rights to land of to 1,000 km² in size for an initial period of three years, with the option of several renewals. The exclusive rights are granted only for the minerals specified in the license. This means that there can be more than one EPL for the same area if it is for different minerals. Prospecting means intentionally searching, whether by way of excavations or otherwise, for any mineral or group of minerals with a view to delineating or evaluating deposits or concentrations of any such mineral, but does not include mining. It also excludes the sale of the minerals.

EPLs are granted for almost the whole surface area of Namibia, including the coastline. In 2011, 202 EPLs were issued.

Source: Ministry of Mines and Energy
A Mineral Retention Licence (MDRL) allows a company to retain rights to deposits discovered under an EPL that cannot be exploited at the time of discovery due to economic or technical reasons. These companies want to make sure that no other exploration company will mine the deposit they have discovered. A MDRL gives them time until market conditions have improved and the company is able to exploit its deposit. MDRLs only last for five years, but can be extended. However, if the minister finds that technological or economic improvements have occurred that would allow for profitable mineral extraction, the minister can force the licence holder to either apply for a mining licence or to relinquish the MDRL.
A Mining Licence (ML) entitles the holder exclusive rights to mine an area for a period of up to 25 years. An extension for an additional 15-year period is possible. Mining means any operations calculated to win any mineral from a mine. The mined minerals can be sold for profit. Holders of a ML also have the right to approve the development of other mines within the same area for which the ML is granted.
For the application of all licences, information regarding existing environmental conditions and the risk for environmental degradation resulting from the planned activities must be disclosed. This might include, depending on the particular licence applied for, disclosing the manner in which it is intended to prevent pollution, dealing with waste, rehabilitating land disturbed by way of prospecting and mining operations, and minimizing effects on land abutting the mining area. This is usually done through conducting and submitting an environmental impact assessment.

Do not confuse the terms Mineral Licence and Mining Licence! The (most important) Exclusive Prospecting Licence and the Mining Licence are both Mineral Licences.

4. Strategic Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Assessments

When a mine or any other bigger project is planned, an environmental impact assessment is a compulsory prerequisite in order to obtain permission for realising the particular project. This paragraph explains what is understood by the often used terms strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and environmental impact assessment (EIA).

4.1 Definition

Section 1 of the Regulations for Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment defines strategic environmental assessment as follows:

Strategic Environmental Assessment is a generic term used to describe environmental assessment as applied to policies, plans and programmes.

The Environmental Management Act provides a definition for environmental impact assessment:

An Environmental Impact Assessment is a process of identifying, predicting, and evaluating the significant effects of activities on the environment as well as risks and consequences of activities and their alternatives and options for mitigation with a view to minimise the effects of activities on the environment and to maximise the benefits and to promote compliance with the principles of environmental management.

Thus, the difference between environmental impact assessments and strategic environmental assessments can be summarised as follows:

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) evaluates an individual project and investigates all positive and negative impacts of this particular project. A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is for all projects in one region and investigates the cumulative impacts of all projects in this region.