Namibian Marine Phosphate (Pty) Limited (NMP) has secured an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) for Mining Licence 170 (ML 170) and its Sandpiper Marine Phosphate Project near Walvis Bay, bringing the controversial marine phosphate development a significant step closer to potential implementation.
According to NMP Namibia’s Environmental Commissioner, Timoteus Mufeti, the company and the Competent Authority were notified of the decision on 6 August 2026.
The ECC is valid for three years from the date of issue, with the decision also communicated to stakeholders and registered Interested and Affected Parties by the project’s Environmental Assessment Practitioner.
Despite the approval, NMP said that the ECC does not authorise the immediate start of commercial mining.
The company said the project remains subject to the implementation of detailed environmental monitoring programmes under its Environmental and Social Management Programme (ESMP), as well as to additional permitting required for the development's terrestrial component.
The ECC establishes a stringent monitoring and oversight framework for activities within ML 170.
A government-led oversight structure, chaired by Muffeti, will regulate mining activities, while independent experts will review monitoring results, baseline information and impact assessments.
NMP will also establish a multi-sectoral Marine Environmental Scientific Advisory Committee (MESAC), modelled on similar structures used in marine mining operations.
The committee will provide scientific advice on the performance of the ESMP and the project’s environmental monitoring.
The company said that no immediate or urgent commercial operations are planned.
According to NMP, the Sandpiper Project targets a large pelletal phosphorite resource contained within seabed sediments on Namibia’s continental shelf, at depths between 180 and 250 metres.
NMP said the resource could support long-term marine mining and beneficiation, potentially underpinning domestic fertiliser production and the development of a phosphate-based industry in Namibia.
Subject to the outstanding permits, the proposed operation would use controlled dredging in a limited portion of ML 170, primarily at depths of between 200 and 250 metres. The phosphate-bearing material would then be processed onshore, with the project designed to produce approximately three million tonnes of phosphate concentrate annually.
NMP estimates that mining would affect an average of about 1.7 square kilometres of seabed each year, equivalent to just 0.1% of the 1,500-square-kilometre ML 170 area. Over a projected 20-year period, the company estimates the total mined area would be approximately 34 square kilometres, or 1.5% of ML 170.
The company further estimates that this would amount to only 0.002% of the seabed within Namibia’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
Despite numerous requests for feedback, the environment ministry has only said that the ECC is authentic and will respond when ready.
