A takeover involving one of the shareholders in the Klein Aub Copper Project delayed Unicorn Mineral Resources’ planned acquisition of a majority stake in the historic Namibian mine, the Irish-listed company has revealed.
In its annual results released on 3 August, Unicorn said negotiations to acquire 75% of the Klein Aub project were interrupted after one of the existing shareholders became the subject of a corporate takeover, forcing the parties to pause discussions before eventually reaching agreement.
“The negotiations with the current owners were hampered by a takeover of one of the shareholders, but these came back on track and an agreement was reached for the Company to buy 75% of the project,” chairman Paddy Doherty said in his statement accompanying the results. “Work was also successfully carried on to cater for the relationship between the Company and the remaining local minority shareholders. These agreements are due to be signed imminently.”
The delay extended Unicorn’s due diligence programme beyond its original timetable, allowing the company to continue technical work on what it believes is the quickest route to commercial production.
Rather than immediately redeveloping the underground mine, Unicorn concentrated on recovering copper and silver from the extensive tailings and slimes left by previous mining operations.
According to the company, metallurgical testing initially failed to produce an economically viable recovery process. However, progress accelerated after Unicorn partnered with Czech chemical technology company Draslovka, whose glycine leaching technology demonstrated that copper could be extracted from the historic tailings using what the company described as a greener processing method with minimal environmental impact.
The company said Klein Aub offers three separate development opportunities: remaining underground copper resources, copper-rich tailings and slimes on surface, and shallow copper mineralisation exposed along strike that may support future open-pit mining. Of these, Unicorn believes the tailings project offers the fastest route to generating revenue.
With the ownership negotiations now resolved, Unicorn plans to move to the next phase of development.
A pilot processing plant and bulk testing programme are scheduled for summer 2026, after which the company intends to submit an application for a mining licence.
Despite reporting a net loss of €598,428 for the year ended 31 March 2026, compared with €467,280 the previous year, the company said the additional time spent on due diligence had strengthened confidence in the project’s commercial prospects by identifying a viable extraction process for the tailings.
The company did not identify the shareholder involved in the takeover or disclose the transaction that caused the delay. However, it said the agreements governing both the acquisition of the 75% interest and its relationship with the remaining local minority shareholders are now expected to be signed imminently.
