Key points
- The 47-tonne tool, designed jointly by Wirth and Namco, operates in water depths up to 250 metres and clears 10 five-square-metre samples per day in sediment depths up to 12 metres.
- Exploration is scheduled to begin in mid-2000 at a cost of $3-million per year, targeting the Luderitz and Hottentot Bay grants in Namibia and concession 12b in South Africa.
- Construction of the tool has started in Germany, with completion expected in early 2001, and a dedicated exploration vessel will be chartered for the program.
- Namco operations director Peter Looijen said the program’s cost has been cut to $3-million per year from $10-million per year during the company’s first exploration phase.
Namibian Minerals has placed a $1.3-million (U.S.) contract with
Wirth to construct a new exploration tool for operation in Namco’s Namibian
and South African concessions.
The German group Wirth is a pioneer of seabed diamond extraction
technology, having developed the first drilling equipment for De Beers Marine
in 1990. Today, De Beers Marine deploys four Wirth drills from its vessels off
the Namibian coast.
The 47 tons exploration tool has been jointly designed by Wirth and
Namco’s in-house engineering team. Its vertical drilling system is fitted with
an eight-metre-long casing and supported by four legs to provide stability
on the ocean floor. It is designed to operate in water depths of up to 250
metres, to clear 10 five-square-metre samples per day and to work in sediment depths of
up to 12 metres.
The tool’s unique characteristics include hydraulic power and control
systems fitted on the tool, compared with other conventional marine mining
technology where power and controls are located on the surface vessel. In
addition, a soft landing system has been developed to enable operation in sea
swells of up to five metres.
Exploration is expected to start in mid-2000 at a cost of $3-million (U.S.) per year. The program will focus on the expansion of the company’s existing
resources in the Luderitz and Hottentot Bay grants in Namibia as well as
concession 12b in South Africa. Construction of the tool has commenced in
Germany and completion is expected early next year. A dedicated exploration
vessel will be chartered for the program.
“Our new exploration tool represents another technological breakthrough
for Namco,” said Peter Looijen, Namco’s operations director. “We have
combined Wirth’s drilling expertise and our experience from the previous
program to build a highly accurate and precise system. Furthermore, we have
identified major cost savings by spending $3-million (U.S.) per annum, compared to $10-million (U.S.) per annum in our first phase of exploration.”
