Book Description

Prepared by the US Bureau of Mines with the purpose of providing the latest available data and information on mining and mineral resources in Namibia, this is a well-informed and useful reference work. The study covers regional geology, the history of exploitation, mining policies and legislation, production (including detailed tables on production and reserves 1970-1981) as well as water resources, energy supply, labour and transport. It argues that uranium has the greatest potential for long-term growth, and that elsewhere a pattern of diminishing ore reserves in the metals and to a lesser extent diamonds suggests a declining resource base. Shortages of water supplies, lack of artisans and skilled labour and "the unresolved international dispute"are identified as constraints to future growth in Namibia's mining industry. There is a chapter outlining the main features of mining legislation, and a lengthy, mainly technical bibliography listing close to 200 items. As a technical and economic surveyrelying heavily on information provided by the mining companies themselves, the study has considerable value. As a guide to the political economy of Namibia, it is, however, quite misleading. The UN Decree No. 1 of 1974 is not mentioned at all, while two decades of worker organization, liberation struggle and harsh colonial repression are dismissed in the assertion that "differences among worker languages and interests have inhibited the formation of a uniform political party or union". The study is notably weak on labour and social conditions, wages and labour legislation. For up-to-date information along the same lines, see Bureau of Mines Minerals Yearbook, vol. III: Area Reports: International, which contains a chapter on the mineral industry of Namibia. (Eriksen/Moorsom 1989).