Koryx Copper will release its new Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) this month, a milestone that marks a major reset for the company’s Haib Copper Project in southern Namibia.
The study, prepared as part of Koryx’s Mining Licence Application process, is built on the October 2024 Mineral Resource Estimate and therefore excludes the latest drill results.
Even so, it integrates advances in metallurgical testwork, process flowsheet design, and infrastructure planning from the company’s expanded technical team.
Haib, located in Namibia’s //Karas Region close to the Orange River, is considered the oldest porphyry copper deposit in the world, with mineralisation dating back nearly two billion years.
The project has been investigated by majors including Falconbridge, Rio Tinto, and Teck over the past century.
It is now held 100% by Koryx Copper Inc., which inherited the project from Deep-South Resources following a 2023 restructuring and rebranding.
Koryx controls the Haib licences through its Namibian subsidiary, Haib Minerals (Pty) Ltd., and has been advancing the project as its flagship asset.
In parallel with the economic study, Koryx has reported new assay results from seven drill holes totalling 2,986 metres under its 2025 exploration and development programme.
The drilling forms part of Phases 2, 3, and 4 of a broader strategy aimed at expanding the resource base, increasing confidence in the geological model, and guiding mine planning.
President and CEO Heye Daun said the results confirm the scale of the mineral system.
“Close-spaced and deeper holes are proving that mineralisation extends down dip and along strike into areas previously classified as waste.
“Our re-logging of historical drill core is also helping us build a stronger geo-metallurgical model that will de-risk the project and highlight higher-grade zones,” he explained.
At Target 1, hole HM85 drilled north of the Volstruis River intersected mineralisation extending 20 metres deeper than previously modelled, with grades peaking at 0.6% copper.
At Target 2, hole HM72 averaged above 0.24% copper over its entire 695 metres, including a 14-metre interval grading 0.91% copper at about 400 metres depth.
HM75 also returned more than 0.24% copper across 927 metres, with molybdenum values consistent from surface to 870 metres.
At Targets 3 and 4, drilling validated mineralisation mapped by earlier explorers Teck and RTZ, with hole HM88 aligning with historical high-grade zones.
Assays further showed that molybdenum was consistently present throughout the system, with grades reaching up to 0.56%.
Gold values remain at low background levels of around 0.025 g/t but double in some intervals.
Koryx plans to incorporate both molybdenum and gold into future resource estimates as potential by-products.
The PEA will serve as an interim step, based on the 2024 resource model, while the ongoing drill campaign informs a new Mineral Resource Estimate, expected in the first half of 2026.
A Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2026.
Daun noted that the increased drill density “should lead to a tighter geological interpretation and a much-improved resource update,” providing the basis for a stronger project case.
The shift away from bacterial heap leaching toward a conventional milling and flotation flowsheet has been described by the company as a strategic reset. Metallurgical testwork, infrastructure trade-offs, and pre-concentration studies inform the updated design. Koryx believes this transition reduces technical risks and makes the project more attractive to financiers and strategic partners seeking scalable and proven processing routes.
While the PEA due this month will be constrained by the resource model on which it is based, the company sees 2026 as the year of transformation, with a new MRE and PFS expected to reshape the project’s outlook.
Koryx plans to complete its current drilling and geological modelling by mid-2026 and deliver the PFS before the end of the year.
“Our work over the next 18 months is about turning Haib from a high-risk concept into a world-class, low-risk copper development. Every metre drilled is de-risking the project and bringing us closer to that goal,” Daun said.
