Geingob says he will leave Namibia in good shape

President Hage Geingob says he will be leaving the country in better shape than he found it after his 10 years in office.

He said this during a courtesy call by Dundee Precious Metal (DPM) at State House yesterday.

Geingob will leave office after his second term comes to an end on 21 March 2025.

“The future is bright, it was terrible about seven years ago but now I am going to leave the country in very good shape.

During the event, in an unexpected move, DPM announced its acquisition of Osino Resources, which adds Osino’s Twin Hills open-pit gold project to DPM’s existing portfolio of assets.

Geingob said the acquisition is a reflection of the theme of this year.

“I am very happy to hear that because I termed this year a year of revival and everywhere I am going, there are signs of revival, so I was a good predictor,” said Geingob.

DPM president and chief executive officer (CEO) David Rae said there will be a new facility built close to Karibib.

“We anticipate investment over the next three years to be around N$6-7 billion. Once the new facility is in operation, we will expect the revenue and royalties from the operations to generate about N$9 billion, which is roughly N$700 million per year for the 13 year life of the Twin Hills project,” said Rae.

Rae added that 75% of the operational spend of the consumables will occur in Namibia, which will amount to N$663 million per year.

“This is a very significant investment and we are very excited to bring this into a reality. We also anticipate that we will be employing 550 people per year during the construction which will commence in 2024 and completed in 2026,” said Rae.

Additionally, Rae said in the operation phase of the project, the company will employ 870 people with 95% of the employees being Namibians.

“Additionally, there will also be local development of the communities within the radius of the operations, so we anticipate that we will be able to support water system development. There is also an excellent exploration package, so we don’t just intend to be here mining for 13 years, we see the capability beyond that life,” said Rae.

Osino Resources CEO Heye Daun said DPM is a highly credible and well-financed builder and operator of gold mines with the technical skills and financial resources to progress the project through construction and into production.

“We are very proud to have attracted a company of DPM’s calibre, thereby securing the future development of Twin Hills, which we believe has the potential to become Namibia’s third and largest gold mine,” said Daun.

Daun said since 2019, the Osino team has made great strides in discovering and advancing Twin Hills, and de-risking the project from a technical and permitting perspective.

As a result of the transaction, DPM will acquire a 100% interest in Osino’s advanced stage, multimillion ounce Twin Hills gold project.

The Twin Hills gold project is located 20km from Karibib and the project is expected to require an investment of US$375m (N$6,8 billion)
A June 2023 feasibility study completed by Osino outlined an open-pit project with a 13-year mine life and average annual production of 175 000 ounces of gold over the first five years, with first production targeted in the second half of 2026.

According to the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, DPM will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Osino.

Upon completion of the transaction, DPM will issue 13 766 364 shares to Osino shareholders and existing Osino shareholders will own approximately 7% of the combined company.