Tour gives insights on managing arsenic

A three-member delegation from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare recently accompanied personnel from Dundee Precious Metals Tsumeb to the United States on a week-long environmental study tour.
The aim of the trip was for the delegates to understand world-class technology used to monitor the environmental effects of arsenic compounds as well as to visit a smelter with similar operations to Tsumeb.
Participating in the study trip were Namibia’s Environmental Commissioner Theofilus Nghitila, Environmental Engineer Abraham Kanime and Deputy Director for Occupational Hygiene Penny Munkawa, together with Dundee Precious Metals Inc.’s Vice President for Environment Brent Johnson and Theo Uvanga, environmental manager at the Tsumeb Smelter.

The delegation participated in a two-day workshop on arsenic in the environment followed by the visit to the Freeport-McMoRans smelter operation in Miami, which is one of three primary copper smelters in the US and has an acid plant.
An intensive overview of the operations and of the many opportunities and challenges faced by the smelter that are similar to those experienced at the Tsumeb Smelter were provided.
“Overall, this was a very good opportunity and indeed worthwhile. Exposure was not only to operational environmental/safety management practices in Namibia’s extractive industries, but also exposure to other countries’ regulation framework,” said Environmental Commissioner Nghitila.