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The final hearing between the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy and TSX-V-listed Deep-South Resources has been scheduled for October 3 and 4.
The High Court of Namibia ordered Deep-South subsidiary Haib Minerals to file its heads of argument (HoA) by September 12 while the Minister of Mines and other respondents have until September 19 to file their HoA. This order was made during a case management meeting on June 30, which served to prepare for the final hearing.
Mining Weekly previously reported that the matter relates to the renewal of the exclusive prospecting licence 3140 covering Deep-South’s Haib copper project, in southern Namibia, which was refused by Namibia Mines and Energy Minister Tom Alweendo in June 2021.
At the time, the Ministry cited Deep-South’s inability to advance the licence to the prefeasibility study (PFS) stage and complete a proposed drill programme as planned.
The company maintains that the issue was a misunderstanding and that the government remained apprised on a proposed change from a PFS to an upgraded preliminary economic assessment (PEA) to be done on the project instead, as well as the start of a full feasibility study.
The PEA estimated an after-tax net present value for the project of $ 957 million and an internal rate of return of 29.7% using a $3/lb copper price. The mine is envisaged to produce 35 332 t/y of copper cathode and 51 080 t/y of copper sulphate, over 24-year mine life.
