KEETMANSHOOP: The University of Namibia ( UNAM ) on Thursday inaugurated a state – of – the – art Rhino – Halliburton technology laboratory at its Southern Campus at Keetmanshoop . Inaugurating the lab UNAM Vice Chancellor , Professor Kenneth Matengu said Namibia is endowed with major deposits of gold , uranium , lithium , zinc , iron ore , and diamonds among others as well as the recently discovered oil and gas . He said for the country to successfully and sustainably exploit such resources , it needs a solid pool of competent experts in the geoscience fields . ‘ Not everyone understands the value of this profession . According to the geoscience council , Namibia is a nation where the public and decision – makers need to understand the requirements for geosciences to ensure sustainable development ,’ said Matengu . He said UNAM continues to make every effort to educate and train the best competent people to man and manage the whole value chain of minerals . The strategy maps the geosciences professions and s
pells out the gaps Namibia has and should address to ensure a national capability is built . ‘ The lab we are inaugurating today , many thanks to Rhino Resources and Halliburton , is a direct response to our government ‘ s quest to make sure our endowments are secure and used to empower geosciences professionals to advise and support the ordinary citizens and the industry with the science language ,’ he said . According to Matengu , the lab will allow UNAM researchers and students to interpret diverse petroleum data , calculate volumes , produce maps and develop strategies to generate hydrocarbon exploration targets or maximise hydrocarbon exploitation . The vice chancellor went on to say that the establishment of the lab is the university ‘ s promise to the nation that it is committed to providing students with the best possible scientific tools to deepen their knowledge and develop their skills to effectively contribute to Namibia ‘ s energy mix and sustainably grow the natural resources sectors . The techn
ology centre has been equipped with cutting – edge hardware provided by Rhino Resources valued at N . dollars 3 . 5 million and a comprehensive N . dollars 129 million three – year software bundle from Halliburton . The software bundle donated by Halliburton includes DecisionSpace Petrophysics , DecisionSpace Geosciences 10ep , Seismic Analysis 10ep , and OpenWorks 5000 . 10 . 7 . 0 , all of which are integral to the exploration and production sectors .

Source: The Namibia News Agency