If Tsumeb was the crown jewel of the Otavi Mountain Land, then Kombat was its sturdy workhorse.
Located about 37 kilometres east of Otavi, Kombat Mine became synonymous with copper production in Namibia from the 1960s through to its closure in the early 2000s.
For decades, it was one of the country’s most reliable sources of copper, producing over 12 million tonnes of ore and sustaining an entire town that bore its name.
The Kombat deposit was first discovered in the early 1900s during the German colonial era, but it remained undeveloped for decades as attention focused on Tsumeb.
The geological similarities were apparent: like Tsumeb, Kombat’s mineralisation occurred in dolomitic rocks of the Otavi Group, which carried copper, lead, and silver.
It was not until 1962 that the mine was officially opened by Tsumeb Corporation Limited, which sought to diversify its production base. Underground workings were driven to access ore zones, and the Kombat townsite grew alongside the mine to house workers and their families.
The ore and production
The Kombat orebody was not as spectacular as Tsumeb’s fabled vertical pipe, but it proved highly productive. The mine exploited a series of stratabound copper orebodies, with average grades of two to four per cent copper. Lead and silver were recovered as by-products, with silver grades occasionally exceeding 30 grams per tonne.
Over its operational life, Kombat produced more than 12 million tonnes of ore, yielding around 1.7 million tonnes of copper metal equivalent. At its peak in the 1970s and 1980s, it employed hundreds of people and was one of the most important mining operations in the country.
Ownership and transitions
For most of its history, Kombat was operated by Tsumeb Corporation Limited, the same company that controlled the Tsumeb mine and smelter. This meant that Kombat ore often found its way to the smelter at Tsumeb, strengthening the industrial ties within the Otavi Mountain Land.
As the decades passed, changes in ownership and declining ore grades challenged the mine’s viability. After independence in 1990, the Namibian government encouraged new investment in the district.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Weatherly International acquired interests in Kombat to extend its life.
Despite these efforts, the mine ultimately closed in 2008 due to financial difficulties and the global downturn in copper prices.
The town of Kombat, once a bustling community, suffered severely in the wake of closure, with services collapsing and residents leaving in search of work.
Revival efforts
The story of Kombat did not end there. In the 2010s, Canadian-listed Trigon Metals entered the scene, acquiring rights to the Kombat property.
Trigon began exploring, drilling, and rehabilitating infrastructure, seeking to revive the mine as copper prices surged on the back of global demand for energy transition metals.
Trigon outlined significant resources at Kombat, including measured and indicated copper resources in the millions of tonnes, with grades ranging from 1.5% to 2.5% copper.
Exploration confirmed that ore zones extended at depth and along strike, offering opportunities for both open-pit and underground development.
By 2021, Trigon had restarted mining at Kombat on a small scale, initially focusing on open-pit resources that could provide early cash flow.
The company’s long-term plan has been to re-establish underground production by dewatering and refurbishing the historic workings, which still contain substantial copper reserves.
A company town
The mine and the town of Kombat were inseparable. Kombat was explicitly established to serve the mine, with houses, schools, clinics, and shops built for employees and their families.
During the mine’s heyday, the town thrived; however, with its closure in 2008, it began to face neglect and decay.
In recent years, Trigon has worked with the Namibian government to stabilise the town, restore essential services, and revive Kombat as a sustainable mining community. The town’s fate remains tied to the mine’s success, just as it has been for over half a century.
Kombat in the Otavi context
While it never achieved the mineralogical fame of Tsumeb, Kombat holds a different kind of importance. It represents the longevity and resilience of Namibia’s copper mining industry.
For more than 40 years, it consistently produced and kept the country’s copper industry alive, even as other operations waned.
Geologically, Kombat is significant because it demonstrates that the Otavi Mountain Land is not limited to one world-class orebody but hosts multiple copper-bearing horizons.
Modern exploration companies now draw on this history as they search for new “Tsumeb-style” and stratabound deposits across the belt.
Looking ahead
Today, Kombat once again holds promise. With global demand for copper growing due to its central role in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and power infrastructure, the mine is well-positioned for revival. Trigon’s redevelopment plans aim to make Kombat a modern, long-life operation capable of producing thousands of tonnes of copper annually.
The resurrection of Kombat would mean not only renewed production but also the revival of a mining town and the continuation of a legacy that began in the colonial era.
The story of Kombat is therefore not one of decline but of resilience—a mine that refuses to be forgotten, a town waiting for its next chapter.
The challenge of water and a new owner
Yet, Kombat’s history has always been shaped by water. The dolomitic rocks that host the ore also serve as aquifers, flooding the underground workings whenever the pumping systems falter.
Decades of operators—from Tsumeb Corporation through to Trigon Metals—have fought the same battle, investing in dewatering only to see pumps overwhelmed. It remains the mine’s most stubborn adversary.
In 2025, a new chapter began. Trigon sold its 80 per cent stake in Kombat to Horizon Corporation in a deal worth about US$24 million, with Epangelo Mining and Namibian businessman Knowledge Katti each retaining 10 per cent.
Horizon has committed up to US$55 million to rehabilitate Kombat, with priority investment in solving the water problem once and for all.
The company plans to overhaul the dewatering system, stabilise the underground workings, and prepare for a complete restart in 2026.
Kombat’s future, therefore, rests on the success of Horizon’s strategy. If the water challenge can finally be tamed, the mine may yet stand again as one of Namibia’s enduring copper producers, anchoring a town that has lived and struggled in its shadow for more than half a century.
