Okorusu Community Trust Fund Donates Bell Water Tanker to Cheetah Conservation Fund

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Dr. Laurie Marker: phone: 067 306225, cell: 0811247887 cheetah@iway.na
Marc Dawe: phone: 067 305 404, cell: 0811 294052, mark.dawe@okorusu.com.na
Mr. Peter Dorrenbacher: phone: 067 305 404, workshop.manager@okorusu.com.na

Okorusu Community Trust Fund Donates Bell Water Tanker to Cheetah Conservation Fund

(Otjiwarongo Namibia) 13 November 2013 — The Okorusu Mine Community Trust donated a Bell truck with a 10,000 liter water tanker to the Cheetah Conservation Fund’s International Research and Education Centre (CCF) as part of their on-going support for CCF’s programmes outside Otjiwarongo. This tanker will provision water tanks at remote cheetah holding pens and wildlife drinking troughs and will provide fire-pumper recharge for fighting veld fires.

The B 30 A Bell truck, with the BAT Nr. 682/09, was purchased by Okorusu in 1994 as a used 30-ton articulated dump truck. It was converted to a 10,000 litre water truck in 2004.

According to Mr. Peter Dorrenbacher, Workshop Manager of Okorusu Fluorspar Mine, “Being in the business of mining non-renewable resources, we believe in giving back to the environment, hence our continued support of successful conservation and environmental organizations. It is therefore with great pleasure that we are able to donate a Bell water truck to the Cheetah Conservation Foundation as part of our efforts to assist them in the vital work they do towards saving this wonderful animal that is so much a part of our natural heritage in Namibia.”
The Bell Tanker now has 56,000 hours on its clock and is still going well. However, this is a lot of hours for a truck, which says a lot about the durability of Bell Machines and the quality of maintenance at Okorusu. The mine recently acquired a much larger Bell water tanker and was able to put the old machine out to pasture with CCF in a much lighter application than it had at the mine.”

The water tanker was transported to CCF’s Centre from the Okorusu mine last week. The transport was a generous donation by Absolute Logistics of Windhoek who work closely with Okorusu Mine on all aspects of transportation.

The Okorusu Community Trust has been a generous contributor to CCF’s Farmer Training programmes since 2010, which provides outreach education programmes throughout Namibia. Dr. Laurie Marker, CCF’s Executive Director said that “support from the Okorusu Community Trust Fund is so much appreciated. This equipment donation will assist all aspects of CCF’s work.”

Okorusu Fluorspar Mine, which started producing 97% pure Fluorspar in 1988, was purchased by the multinational Chemicals Group, Solvay, in 1997. Okorusu Mine belongs to the Solvay Global Business Specialty Chemicals Unit. The 97% pure Acid Grade Fluorspar concentrate produced by Okorusu is exported to Solvay’s Hydrofluoric Acid plants, where it is converted into Fluorspar concentrates to produce a host of organic and inorganic Fluoro chemicals. Fluorspar is used in an endless list of applications, from refrigerant gases in fridges and air conditioners to Fluor-polymers and plastics. It is also increasingly used as a key element in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. It has recently been declared a “Strategic Mineral” by the European Union and the United States of America. The Okorusu Community Trust was established by Okorusu Fluorspar Mine with the aim to uplift the standard of primary education in Otjiwarongo and identify and support conservation and environmental organizations that are making meaningful contributions towards sustainable environmental protection and conservation of fauna and flora.

The Cheetah Conservation Fund is a Namibian non-profit trust dedicated to the long-term survival of the cheetah and its ecosystems. Since 1990, the organisation has developed education and conservation programmes based on its bio-medical cheetah research studies, published scientific research papers and has presented educational programmes to over 350 000 outreach school learners and over 1500 farmers. In addition, CCF has donated over 450 Anatolian Shepherd livestock guarding dogs to commercial and communal farmers as part of their innovative non-lethal livestock management programme. Research into cheetah biology and ecology has greatly increased our understanding of the fastest land animal, and education programmes for schools and the farming community help change public attitudes to allow predator and humans to co-exist. However, despite the many successes of CCF programmes, the cheetah is still Africa’s most endangered big cat.

For more information on CCF’s research, conservation and education programmes, please contact CCF at: Cheetah Conservation Fund, PO Box 1755, Otjiwarongo, Namibia; Tel : (067) 306225; Fax: (067) 306247; E-mail: cheetah@iway.na; Website: www.cheetah.org