Byrnecut has landed its second major Namibian contract, this time with QKR Navachab Gold Mine, marking a decisive step in the mine’s transition from a 35-year open-pit operation to a long-life underground producer.
The contract, which runs from November 2025 to October 2029, places Byrnecut at the centre of a multibillion-dollar transformation that aims to unlock deeper ore bodies and extend Navachab’s operational future well into the 2040s.
Under the agreement, Byrnecut will take responsibility for mechanised decline development, lateral and vertical development, long-hole open stoping, complete fleet maintenance and a structured underground training programme designed to build a skilled Namibian workforce.
The contract is structured on fixed and variable rate schedules, allowing operational flexibility as the underground mine ramps up.
QKR Namibia, Navachab’s owner since 2014, is advancing an ambitious underground expansion backed by an estimated N$4 billion investment programme.
Project documents show that the mine is planning to extend mining activities to 2036 and processing operations to 2045, anchored by the company’s reported 2.43 million ounces of remaining gold reserves.
The timeline remains dependent on continued underground development, further environmental-clearance amendments and market conditions, but it represents the most significant evolution of Navachab since its commissioning in 1989.
This new phase builds on Byrnecut’s role in Navachab’s underground journey long before the 2025 award. Byrnecut first became involved in 2019, when the company was brought in to support a trial initiative designed to test Navachab’s underground potential.
The programme, later formalised as Project //Khaima, formed the backbone of the mine’s feasibility assessments.
Byrnecut’s work during this early stage helped establish the geotechnical, logistical and economic conditions under which Navachab could transition below surface.
Project //Khaima culminated in the completion of Navachab’s first underground portal in 2025 — a 5.5-metre by 5.5-metre access drive that proved the ground conditions and design parameters required for large-scale underground operations.
The portal provided the technical proof of concept the mine needed, validating the findings of the feasibility work in which Byrnecut had been a central contractor.
Navachab has since described the underground transition as essential for accessing higher-grade zones that can no longer be mined profitably from surface.
The expansion is also expected to create more than 150 skilled jobs as QKR develops a dedicated Namibian underground mining workforce.
Byrnecut’s long-term investment in Namibia’s underground gold sector is further reinforced by its parallel work at B2Gold’s Wolfshag Underground Mine, the country’s first modern underground gold operation. Byrnecut entered Wolfshag in February 2022 under a contract running to March 2027.
At Wolfshag, the company has delivered mechanised decline development, vertical and lateral drivage, long-hole stoping, backfilling operations, fleet maintenance and comprehensive underground training.
Wolfshag sits within the larger Otjikoto mining complex north of Windhoek, an operation covering 188,000 hectares with 28 mining licences, 13 exploration permits and a special lease for camp accommodation and biodiversity protection.
Together, the Wolfshag and Navachab engagements demonstrate the two phases of Byrnecut’s relationship with Namibia: an early technical partner that helped the country test and refine underground mining concepts, and a long-term delivery contractor now responsible for executing large-scale, multi-year underground production plans.
Established in 1987 and recognised for operating one of the world’s most specialised underground mining fleets, Byrnecut’s involvement in Namibia aligns with its strategy of supporting major producers through complex underground transitions.
More than 250 Byrnecut employees have served with the company for over a decade, and nearly 30 have surpassed the 20-year mark, a reservoir of underground expertise now feeding directly into Namibia’s growing gold sector.
With Wolfshag well established and Navachab preparing to descend deeper than ever before, Byrnecut has become a central partner in shaping the next era of Namibia’s gold mining landscape.
The 2019 trial phase proved that Namibia could go underground; the 2025–2029 contract now marks the beginning of large-scale underground production at the country’s oldest gold mine, setting the foundation for what its next two decades could look like.
