New investment in Namibia’s gold and uranium mining sectors will continue to create opportunities for the Walvis Bay freight industry for some time to come says Philip Coetzee, general manager of Woker Freight Services (WFS) in Walvis Bay. Swakop Uranium, is currently developing and constructing the world’s third-largest uranium mine near the town of Swakopmund. “We will see a spin-off from this and a new gold mine for the next three years at least,” says Coetzee. B2Gold is a Canadian mining company which is opening a US$244m gold mine at Otjikoto, some 300 km north of Windhoek. Work on Swakop Uranium’s Husab project started officially in November last year following the signing in Beijing of the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract for the project. The mine has a potential life of more than 20 years, with uranium reserves of at least 280 million tons. WFS is well positioned to service these and other Namibian developments due to its strong presence in the country and its global network, says Coetzee. “We are part of a number of strategic agent networks, which gives us a global presence,” he says. Project freight services include the full cycle of logistics involved in project management including shipping, cargo handling, customs clearing, forwarding (intermodal transport) and warehousing. WFS has extensive experience in providing logistics support for various types of projectorientated industries including mining, energy, FMCG, oil and gas, manufacturing and large scale infrastructure development sectors. CAPTION Philip Coetzee … well positioned to service new developments.
