Country in focus
Projects to look out for in 2019
There is a renewed interest in Namibia’s exploration sector,
with a notable increase in the number of active projects in
the country.
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In 2017, Namibia Critical Metals established a
strategic partnership with Gecko, finalised in February
2018, comprising a combined portfolio of high-tech
commodities that include heavy rare earths, tantalum,
niobium, copper, cobalt, lithium, graphite, zinc, and
nickel. These projects vary from greenfields projects
to projects in the mining license application stage. Of
significant importance is the Lofdal rare earth deposit,
which contains one of the few meaningful and known
resources of heavy rare earths worldwide.
Results from Gecko’s Opuwo Cobalt Project have been
particularly promising, confirming sediment-hosted
copper-cobalt mineralisation at 15km of strike.
North River Resources is expected to start production
at the Namib Lead and Zinc Mine near Swakopmund
in mid-2019.
Craton Mining was finally granted access to the
Omitiomire copper project in central Namibia.
AfriTin plans to revive historical mining operations
surrounding the town of Uis, in the Erongo region
of Namibia.
Weatherly International’s Tschudi copper cathode
operation near Tsumeb: Nameplate capacity was achieved
in the second half of 2017 and the leach pad expansion
project was completed in December 2017.
Osino Gold Exploration in the central and northern
regions of Namibia. Exploration is focused on the
Namibia), it was still hovering around USD20 and has
subsequently risen to USD29 per pound as a result of supply
disruptions in the markets “Even this small increase was good
news, but there is still a lot of uncertainty. However, the general
outlook generally remains positive,” says Davidson. The uranium
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Goldkuppe discovery and extension targets, along
with further development of the new Karibib Regional
Exploration Project and defining new grassroots
targets in the Otjikoto East area.
Desert Lion Energy’s lithium project, close to
Karibib, has already delivered its first shipment,
but operations were suspended due to negative
developments in the price of lithium. Subsequently,
the company has completed the pre-feasibility study
for future mining and processing operations and have
begun to raise financing for the following stages of
their project.
Deep South Resources’ Haib project is a large
copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit located in
the Karas region of southern Namibia, 8km from the
Orange River and the South African border.
B2Gold’s Otjikoto gold mine. B2Gold is also doing
exploration work at Otjikoto and at Ondundu, in the
Omaruru region, which is almost halfway between
Navachab and Otjikoto. The Ondundu project looks
very promising.
Steady and continued diamond production from
Namdeb Diamond Corporation and De Beers Marine
Namibia. The bulk of Namibia’s diamond output
comes from Debmarine Namibia’s offshore operations,
as land-based operations slowly approach the end of
their life of mine.
Expansions at the Walvis Bay Salt Refiners led to
increased production in 2017.
Source: The Namibian Chamber of Mines
price will pick up again; unfortunately, it is a matter of getting
the timing right.
According to Angula Kalili, chief operating officer at Swakop
Uranium, there are enough local suppliers in Namibia to service the
Although there is a steady supply of
electricity in Namibia, the costs are
high, and it is not available in remote
regions. Most mines in Namibia get
electricity from the bulk service
provider; however, some have started
producing their own electricity.
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