One of the longest-running court cases between the mines ministry and Deep-South Resources (now Koryx Copper) over the renewal of the Haib Copper Mine ended amicably.
Deep-South Resources is a Canadian company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V). It holds 100% of Haib Minerals (PTY) Ltd. Haib Minerals holds 100% of the Haib copper exploration licence.
The Haib Mine is one of the oldest copper deposits discovered by German explorers around the late 1800s.
The mines ministry refused to renew the licence in June 2021, but the court ruled that Deep-South should get it back in July 2023.
The court case cost Deep-South about N$2.7 million—N$1.5 million for the legal fees in Namibia and about N$1.2 million for the legal fees in Canada and Europe.
The mines ministry renewed the licence on 7 July 2023, after about two years of a court battle.
The licence conditions were that Deep-South should have started and adhered to the exploration program proposed to the ministry before applying for the renewal.
When the ministry refused to renew the licence, Deep-South had completed the work program proposed and invested N$8 million.
The company was about to complete a 10,000-metre drilling program and update its resource estimate, which could have cost US$7.1 million.
The feasibility study would have cost US$5.4 million, and the pilot plant would have cost US$25.5 million.
An un-updated pre-feasibility study estimates the Haib copper mine’s annual production at 35,335 tons of copper cathodes and 51,080 tons of copper sulphate.
The same pre-feasibility study puts the Haib copper mine’s life at 24 years.
A day after the licence renewal, Deep-South’s shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange climbed by as much as 69% and closed more than 38% higher than the previous trading.
Deep-South Resources is rebranding into Koryx Copper Inc., effective 10 November 2023.
