Chamber of Mines Golden Jubilee

The Chamber of Mines of Namibia celebrates its golden jubilee this year, marking 50 years of excellence and dedicated service to Namibia’s mining industry. The Chamber of Mines was incepted in 1969.

The 8th Namibian Mining Expo and Conference, slated for 8th and 9th May 2019 at the Windhoek Show Grounds, will hallmark the 50th birthday of the Chamber of Mines. “From its modest beginnings on 9 May 1969, the Chamber has endeavoured to serve the mining industry with excellence,” said CEO Veston Malango. “Started as the Association of Mining Companies in South West Africa, the Chamber and its members have made an immense contribution to the Namibian economy over the past five decades. The industry fully supported the young republic after Independence in 1990 and remains dedicated to promoting Namibia as the prime mining destination in Africa.”
Malango added that the success of the Namibian mining industry would not have been possible without close cooperation and support from Government. “We have always strived to reconcile the interests of mines, workers and the economy at large through an open dialogue with our Namibian leaders,” said Malango. This has earned the Chamber of Mines recognition in Africa. It is often asked for advice by its counterparts from other African countries when tensions mount be-tween Governments and mining companies.
For Malango, it is this ability to act as an honest broker that is key to the Chamber’s success. ‘We have demonstrated that we are not just fair weather friends. The industry continues to contribute to Namibia’s socio-economic growth even in challenging times, while the Chamber of Mines plays an active role in shaping a healthy regulatory and policy environment, and through its committees serves as a strong peer review mechanism for the industry on issues of health and safety, environment, human resources and sustainability. This testifies to the strong leadership in both the industry and Government and creates confidence that we can tackle complex issues that will culminate in win-win solutions for the Namibian nation, the Government and the sector.
Commenting on the performance of the industry, Mr Malango said that the mining sector was the best performing sector in 2018, as reported in the Preliminary National Accounts released by the Namibia Statistics Agency, recording a strong growth rate of 22%.“According to these statistics, the positive industry growth was driven by production increases of diamonds and particularly uranium, in comparison with 2017,” said Mr Malango.