Cazaly Resources has confirmed that the Kaoko Copper-Cobalt Project in Namibia no longer aligns with its current strategic direction, following an internal re-evaluation completed during the June 2025 quarter.
In its latest quarterly report, the company noted that Exclusive Prospecting Licence (EPL) 6667 expired on 8 June 2025.
While no formal exit has been declared, the lapse of the licence and the project’s removal from forward planning signal a clear shift in focus.
Cazaly initially acquired up to a 95% interest in the project in early 2018 through an option agreement targeting base metals in northern Namibia’s Kunene Region.
The licence area, covering approximately 1,410 km², had previously been explored by Celsius Resources and Kunene Resources between 2012 and 2015.
Those campaigns confirmed significant copper-cobalt mineralisation, with reconnaissance drilling confirming the first copper-cobalt discovery in July 2015 in multiple targets, including the Kamwe anomaly.
Following its acquisition, Cazaly undertook extensive geochemical soil sampling and field reconnaissance, identifying multiple copper-cobalt anomalies.
The most significant of these was the Kamwe target—a 20 km by 5 km cobalt-copper soil anomaly coinciding with a magnetic low and interpreted as a potential Dolomite Ore Formation (DOF) horizon analogue.
While initial plans included drilling, Cazaly itself did not complete any copper-cobalt drilling during its tenure. Instead, its drilling activity was focused on lithium targets at the Ohevanga prospect in late 2024—an approximately 1,324-metre reverse circulation program over 28 holes—which ultimately proved uneconomic for lithium and led to a return to copper-cobalt evaluation before the project’s expiry.
Although a renewed copper-cobalt drilling campaign had been contemplated, it did not materialise before the licence expiration.
As of June 2025, Cazaly has not initiated drilling on copper-cobalt targets under its tenure.
The company has not announced any intention to renew the licence, indicating that the Kaoko project is no longer a priority under its evolving critical minerals strategy.
Cazaly continues to maintain a footprint in Namibia through its Abenab North Rare Earth Project, located in the Otavi Mountainland, which remains under review for strategic development opportunities.
The company’s focus has shifted toward advancing rare earth elements, magnet metals, and other electrification-linked commodities across its broader portfolio.
Namibia remains of interest to global explorers due to its underexplored cobalt potential, especially in sediment-hosted copper belts, such as the Kunene, and in stratigraphic horizons associated with the Damara Belt. While cobalt projects outside the Democratic Republic of Congo are rare, Namibia offers geological similarities that could yield future development opportunities under more favourable market conditions.
Celsius Resources, which previously explored part of the Kaoko Belt, recently announced a full write-down of its Opuwo Cobalt Project—once considered one of the largest undeveloped cobalt resources outside the DRC—citing market conditions and strategic realignment.
This move further underscores the growing caution among developers amid a volatile landscape for battery metals.
