By Brigitte Weidlich

WINDHOEK - Found a century ago in the arid Namib desert, diamonds are Namibia's main export but slumping global demand has prompted the government to explore uranium mining and gas fields, in a bid to diversify the economy.

In 1994, Namibia's South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO)-led government, which is seeking re election Friday, signed an equal ownership deal with mining giant De Beers - a move to ensure that the country reaped the rewards of its natural resources.

De Beers had enjoyed long standing mining rights in Namibia, prior to the country's independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

Through its company Namdeb, the government pushed De Beers to establish a diamond cutting and polishing factory, NamGem, tasked with processing locally produced gems.

But the initiative has not done enough to create jobs, in a country where the unemployment rate nears 40 percent.

The impact of the global financial crisis has seen Namdeb retrench almost half of the 3,200 work force to save costs.

In the face of the diminishing reserves and the declining demand for diamonds, the government is now looking at ways to expand the economy, as industry experts predict that precious stone reserves would be depleted by the time the De Beers mining licences expire in 2020.

The country's untapped offshore gas deposits and considerable uranium mining prospects are the most obvious choices for economic diversification.

Rossing Uranium had been Namibia's sole uranium mine since the 1970s, till a second mine was established two years ago in the western Namib desert.

According to the World Nuclear Association, the two mines have a capacity to produce 10 percent of the world's uranium output, if used efficiently.

So far the government has shown interest in expanding the country's uranium mining by issuing mining licences to prospective companies.

"Over 40 exclusive prospecting licenses (EPLs) for uranium and 12 uranium mining licenses have been issued," Joseph Iita, the permanent secretary in the mining ministry, told a recent mining seminar.

Namibia currently produces around 5,000 tonnes of uranium oxide annually and there is room for more.

"Uranium oxide production rose sharply in 2008 pushing Namibia for the first time up from sixth to fourth biggest producer globally after Canada, Kazakhstan and Australia," said Robin Sherbourne, an economist at Old Mutual financial services.

In September, an Australian company Extract Resources announced new uranium deposits in the country.

The deposits have an estimated 14.8 million pounds of uranium oxide production annually, for 20 years, at a capital costs of 704 million dollars, the company said.

In terms of the offshore Kudu gas fields, Namibia boasts 1.3 trillion cubic feet to fuel an 800 megawatt power station which is awaiting development.

"The total development costs for Kudu would be around 1.8 billion dollars," Mining Minister Erkki Nghimtina said.

Irish Tullow Oil and Russian gas giant Gazprom have shown interest in Kudu gas projects.

"We will build and will start the project in January ... the first of a gas monetisation strategy we are trying to implement in Africa in general and in Namibia in particular," Gazprom boss Boris Ivanov announced earlier this month at an energy conference in South Africa.

In June, Gazprom signed a one-billion-dollar deal with the Namibian energy company Namcor to build a new power plant in the country.