When Wia Gold’s exploration manager, Pierrick Couderc, walked the low hills of Okombahe in Namibia’s Erongo Region in 2021, he wasn’t chasing a legacy deposit.
He and his field team were testing routine soil samples across what looked like ordinary Damara belt geology. But one set of assays stood out—a broad gold anomaly that would, within months, grow into one of the most significant greenfield gold discoveries in the country’s history.
That anomaly became Kokoseb, and it is now on track to become Namibia’s fourth producing gold mine.
Kokoseb’s story began with wide-spaced soil sampling over Exploration Licence 4818, jointly held by Wia Gold Limited (80%) and Namibia’s state-owned Epangelo Mining (20%).
The 500 × 500 metre grid revealed a strong, coherent gold-in-soil anomaly, which Wia quickly followed with infill sampling and trenching. By late 2021, the work confirmed a continuous gold trend more than three kilometres long.
In early 2022, Wia drilled 12 reconnaissance diamond holes totalling about 1 700 metres.
The results were immediate: thick mineralised zones starting near surface, consistent across multiple holes.
The company realised it had discovered a large, open-pit-style system—the first major new gold find in Namibia in more than a decade. Over the next three years, a sequence of reverse-circulation and diamond drilling campaigns defined a mineralised strike exceeding five kilometres and open in all directions.
Buying in and building the project
Wia entered Namibia in 2019 through a joint-venture agreement with Epangelo Mining, securing 80% ownership of the Okombahe licence under its Namibian subsidiary, Damaran Exploration.
The partnership allowed Wia to establish a long-term presence in the Damara belt and set the stage for the Kokoseb discovery.
Following the first drilling success, Wia moved quickly to raise capital and expand exploration. In late 2024, the company raised A$30 million through a placement to accelerate drilling, resource definition and early engineering studies.
That funding carried Kokoseb from its maiden inferred resource of about 1.3 million ounces to a July 2025 estimate of 2.93 million ounces at 1.0 g/t gold, including 1.81 million ounces in the Indicated category.
Corporate presentations describe Kokoseb as one of the most cost-efficient new gold discoveries globally, achieved at a discovery cost of roughly US$3 per ounce.
For Wia, a company previously focused on West Africa, the find transformed its Namibian portfolio and turned Kokoseb into its flagship project.
Straightforward open-pit operation
Wia’s scoping study, released in September 2025, lays out a conventional open-pit mine feeding a carbon-in-leach processing plant.
Average production is projected at about 146 000 ounces of gold per year over an initial 11-year life of mine, rising to roughly 177 000 ounces per year in the first five years.
All-in sustaining costs are estimated at US$1,265 per ounce in the early years and US$1,447 per ounce over the life of mine.
At a gold price of $2,600 per ounce, the project delivers a post-tax net present value of US$646 million and an internal rate of return of 38 per cent, with payback in less than two years.
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at US$358.8 million (about N$6.5 billion) to build the mine, plant and supporting infrastructure.
Infrastructure and environmental design
The plan calls for filtered dry-stack tailings—a first for a large-scale gold operation in Namibia—along with grid-connected power and backup diesel generation.
Wia’s engineers have identified multiple water sources around Okombahe to sustain operations without heavy reliance on municipal supply.
The company expects to file its mining-licence application in October 2025 and submit the environmental and social impact assessment in early 2026.
A definitive feasibility study is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2026, paving the way for a final investment decision by year-end. If approvals and financing proceed on schedule, construction could begin in late 2026, with first gold targeted for late 2027 or early 2028.
Namibia’s growing gold sector
When it enters production, Kokoseb will join Navachab, B2Gold’s Otjikoto and Osino’s Twin Hills—which is under construction—as part of a new wave of Namibian gold mines.
Its arrival comes at a pivotal time: Otjikoto’s open-pit phase is winding down, and national output will need fresh feed to maintain export earnings and fiscal flows.
Kokoseb’s projected annual production of up to 180,000 ounces will materially lift Namibia’s total gold output while generating employment, procurement contracts and royalty revenue for the state. Its partnership with Epangelo ensures direct national participation, while the use of modern dry-stack tailings aligns with Namibia’s push toward lower-footprint mining under the country’s Green Industrialisation Blueprint.
Changing the narrative
Kokoseb’s rise from a soil anomaly to a 2.9-million-ounce project in barely four years highlights what systematic exploration can still achieve in Namibia. It is a story of persistence and technical excellence: a grassroots discovery by Wia Gold’s own team, nurtured through steady drilling and bold investment.
As feasibility work advances and construction approaches, Kokoseb stands ready to redefine Namibia’s gold landscape—proof that even in a mature mining nation, the ground can still surprise those who look closely enough.
