Unicorn Mineral Resources says completion of its proposed acquisition of a controlling stake in the historic Klein Aub copper mine in Namibia is now expected by the end of June 2026.
the company advances plans to unlock value from more than 5.5 million tonnes of copper-bearing tailings using glycine leaching technology.
The London-listed company said a corporate reorganisation within the vendor’s group in April delayed the drafting of legal documentation related to the transaction, but added that the acquisition process is now well advanced.
Klein Aub, located in Namibia’s Hardap Region southeast of Rehoboth, hosts about 5.5 million tonnes of slimes and tailings with an estimated grade of 0.26% copper and 7.4 grams per tonne silver.
Unicorn said it has used the extended transaction period to accelerate technical work that would otherwise have occurred after the acquisition’s completion.
The company has been evaluating Draslovka’s glycine leaching technology as a potential extraction method for the Klein Aub tailings project.
As part of the process, Unicorn’s technical team recently visited a copper mine in Zambia to evaluate an enhanced heap-leaching operation using materials similar to those found at Klein Aub.
According to the company, the Zambian operation has been running successfully for the past two years and has demonstrated favourable operating results.
Unicorn said the process offers relatively low capital and operating expenditure requirements, making it potentially suitable for the large tailings facility at Klein Aub.
The company also revealed that it has strengthened engagement with Namibia’s Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy following meetings held during a field visit in April 2026.
According to Unicorn, the ministry has since provided information on more than 150 historic tailings facilities across Namibia that originated from mining activities before independence in 1990.
The company said these historical tailings dumps represent both an environmental remediation challenge and a potential opportunity for metal recovery using modern extraction technologies.
Chairperson Paddy Doherty said the company believes the delay in finalising documentation has not materially affected overall project progress because technical and operational preparations continued in parallel.
“The Company has used the extended documentation process to bring forward work that would have been necessary post completion and so, overall, little time has been lost,” Doherty said.
“We are particularly pleased with the results of the Zambian site visit and we believe that we have the right technology partners to not only extract the value from the Klein Aub tailings but also, with support from the Namibian Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy, to tackle the enormous opportunities across the country,” he added.
The Klein Aub copper mine is one of Namibia’s historic copper operations. It forms part of a broader wave of renewed interest in the country’s legacy mining assets, particularly tailings and waste facilities that may still contain commercially recoverable metals under modern processing technologies.
Unicorn said the Klein Aub project could also position the company to pursue additional tailings retreatment opportunities in Namibia as the country looks to address environmental liabilities left behind by historic mining operations.
