By Extractor Magazine Staff
Deep in Namibia’s Otavi Mountainland lies Kombat Mine—one of the country’s oldest and most stubbornly challenging mining operations.
In May 2025, Trigon Metals agreed to sell its entire interest in Namibia’s Kombat Mine to Horizon Corporation for US$24 million (about N$429–444 million), paid in instalments.
The deal includes production bonuses, a copper royalty, and loan forgiveness.
Horizon Corporation aims to restart and stabilise operations, bringing new investment and potential jobs to the historic copper site.
Horizon Corporation operates globally with gold production in Mozambique, copper-gold-silver projects in Utah, and copper-cobalt tailings reprocessing in Zambia, showcasing a diversified portfolio and expertise in developing strategic metals for sustainable, long-term returns.
A mine with a long memory
For over a century, Kombat has drawn miners with its rich copper veins and promise of prosperity. However, it has also defeated many with its relentless flooding of underground water.
Kombat’s history dates back to around 1900 when German prospectors first developed shafts into the region’s copper-rich dolomites. By the 1950s and 60s, Kombat was one of Namibia’s flagship copper producers under Tsumeb Corporation Ltd. At its peak, the mine produced around 12,000 tonnes of copper concentrate per year, feeding Namibia’s smelters and global markets alike.
Employment boomed during these decades. Hundreds of miners, engineers, mechanics, and support workers found steady jobs. Kombat town itself was built to house them, with shops, schools, clinics—an entire local economy running on copper.
But even in those golden years, water was a constant adversary. Pumps ran continuously to prevent groundwater from seeping through the fractured dolomite. Without them, the mine would drown.
Ownership changes and collapses
By the late 1980s and 1990s, global copper prices had fallen. Maintenance slipped. Tsumeb Corporation itself changed hands, eventually winding down operations. Kombat’s ownership shifted multiple times from Tsumeb Corp. to Ongopolo Mining and Processing, which attempted to revive operations in the early 2000s.
Weatherly International, a UK-listed junior miner that reopened Kombat briefly in the mid-2000s.
Weatherly’s plan aimed to deliver over 7,000 tonnes of copper annually. At restart, it created over 400 direct jobs, as well as numerous additional positions in local supply and services.
But the familiar problem remained. Dewatering costs were high. Pumps failed during shutdowns. When copper prices dipped, Weatherly mothballed Kombat. Hundreds of workers were retrenched. Kombat town fell quiet.
Flooded and abandoned
By the 2010s, with the pumps switched off, Kombat’s underground workings filled with water. Shafts, stopes, and tunnels disappeared below the water table. Equipment rusted, and walls collapsed.
For local families, it was a crushing blow. Businesses closed. Young people left for Otavi or Windhoek. Kombat became a mining ghost town—its once-proud legacy was lost underwater.
Trigon’s return—and frustrated hopes
In 2017, Canada’s Trigon Metals acquired Kombat Mine, offering new hope. High copper prices returned, driven by the green energy boom and electrification. Trigon mapped out ambitious plans: dewater the mine, refurbish the plant, rehire workers, and restart production to produce 4,000–6,000 tonnes of copper concentrate annually.
At its height in 2021–22, Trigon’s restart employed over 200 people directly. Contractors and local suppliers ramped up. Kombat’s economy flickered back to life.
But water again proved its dominance. Dewatering costs soared. Pumps required constant maintenance. Rainy seasons flooded lower levels faster than expected. Investors grew cautious as Trigon’s reports admitted delays and cost overruns.
Despite partial plant commissioning, full-scale underground mining never reached consistent production. By late 2023, Trigon was under severe financial strain.
A new owner with a familiar problem
In 2024, Trigon sold Kombat Mine to Horizon Namibia Mining (Pty) Ltd, marking another chapter in the mine’s turbulent history. The sale was framed as a way to ensure Kombat’s long-term future under local control, with Horizon committed to tackling the water problem head-on.
For Kombat Town, the deal brought cautious optimism. Horizon promised local job creation and committed to continuing the dewatering effort to make the mine safe and workable again. But the community remembers the pattern: every shutdown means hundreds of lost jobs. Every restart brings hope, often short-lived if water overwhelms the pumps.
The engineering challenge beneath the surface
Geologically, Kombat’s issue is clear. The Otavi dolomites are natural aquifers. Any shaft or tunnel cuts into these water-bearing layers. The mine cannot ever be “dry” in the true sense. Instead, it demands continuous pumping—24 hours a day, forever.
Stop the pumps for even a week, and levels will rise rapidly. Flooded sections take months and millions to reclaim.
In addition to volume, water chemistry poses challenges: dissolved minerals cause scale, corrosion, and environmental compliance issues. Any discharge must meet Namibian ecological standards to protect local water sources and ensure the preservation of the environment.
Horizon has reportedly begun upgrading pumping systems, investing in treatment facilities, and hiring maintenance teams. Yet every move carries costs that copper sales must offset.
Jobs created, jobs lost
At its peak, from the 1950s to the 1970s, Kombat Mine employed over 600 people directly, with additional informal contract workers supporting operations.
During the 2000s, Ongopolo and Weatherly’s restart efforts created approximately 300 to 400 jobs, including those of contractors, before the facility shut down again.
More recently, Trigon’s 2021 to 2023 push generated roughly 200 positions, combining direct hires and contract roles; however, many of these were lost once the plans slowed.
These figures do not include workers from contract companies.
Each new ownership wave hires and trains workers. Each failure sees those livelihoods vanish. The town’s future has become a mirror of the mine’s pumps: when they work, so does Kombat. When they fail, everything floods—literally and economically.
Horizon now owns both the promise and the curse of Kombat Mine. The copper remains underground, as valuable as ever in a decarbonising world hungry for electrical infrastructure. The community is ready to work.
But will Horizon finally solve the mine’s oldest problem? Can they keep the water at bay, maintain steady production, and deliver jobs and revenue sustainably? Or will Kombat once again prove that in this corner of Namibia, the hardest thing to mine isn’t copper—it’s hope itself?
