Wia Gold has agreed to indicative terms with Sprott Resource Lending Corp for a potential US$375 million financing package for its Kokoseb Gold Project in Namibia, providing a pathway to fund most of the US$475 million required to develop the proposed mine.
The proposed facility comprises a US$360 million senior secured debt facility and a US$15 million subscription by Sprott in any future Wia equity raising. However, the terms remain indicative and non-binding and are subject to detailed due diligence, definitive documentation and final approval.
The US$360 million debt component alone is equivalent to about 76% of Kokoseb’s estimated US$475 million pre-production capital requirement, substantially advancing Wia’s efforts to assemble the funding needed to move the project into construction.
Wia also had A$119 million in cash at 30 June 2026.
The financing agreement follows the completion of a competitive financing process and a preliminary independent technical review and lender due diligence by Sprott, and now moves into a more detailed assessment of the project.
Financial close remains dependent on the completion of that due diligence, the execution of definitive financing documentation, final approval, and Wia securing the Mining Licence and Environmental Clearance Certificate required for Kokoseb.
Under the proposed structure, US$50 million would become available following financial close and receipt of the required permits, with the remaining debt funding available for construction.
The financing development comes as Wia moves Kokoseb from feasibility to development following the completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study and the establishment of a maiden 1.95-million-ounce Ore Reserve.
The company’s latest resource work has also increased Kokoseb’s Mineral Resource by 29% to 3.78 million ounces, providing additional potential beyond the current mine plan.
The DFS envisages development of Kokoseb as a 5.25-million-tonne-a-year open-pit operation, with total pre-production capital estimated at US$475 million.
At Wia’s base-case gold price of US$3,600 per ounce, the study estimates a post-tax net present value of US$1.214 billion, an internal rate of return of 41%, and a life-of-mine post-tax free cash flow of US$1.914 billion.
The proposed operation is expected to produce about 161,000 ounces of gold annually during its first five years and approximately 150,000 ounces annually over its first decade, with a 14-year mine life under the current open-pit development plan.
The financing agreement with Sprott is significant because project funding represents one of the major outstanding requirements before Wia can commit Kokoseb to full construction.
However, the US$375 million package should not yet be treated as secured funding because neither the US$360 million debt facility nor the US$15 million equity subscription has reached definitive agreement or financial close.
Permitting is also progressing alongside the financing process.
Wia submitted its Mining Licence application to the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy on 10 October 2025, while the project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Environmental and Social Management Plan were formally submitted to the mining and environment ministries on 19 March 2026.
The company subsequently submitted its Accessory Works Permit application on 8 May.
Wia is meanwhile advancing execution-readiness activities, including establishing the owner’s team, finalising its project execution and contracting strategy, progressing detailed engineering and design and preparing to order long-lead equipment required on the project’s critical path.
The company is also continuing underground resource definition and extension drilling while pursuing regional exploration across its wider licence portfolio.
Kokoseb was discovered in 2021 and has progressed rapidly from exploration into resource definition, feasibility and financing work, with the latest resource standing at 3.78 million ounces and the maiden Ore Reserve containing 1.95 million ounces.
The proposed Sprott financing represents another important step in that development process, as the US$360 million senior debt facility, if converted from indicative terms to definitive financing, would cover about three-quarters of Kokoseb’s pre-production capital requirement.
Wia must still complete Sprott’s detailed due diligence, negotiate definitive financing documents, secure final lender approval and obtain the outstanding regulatory approvals before the facility can reach financial close.
The company says it is progressing the US$360 million facility towards financial close, including final due diligence and a lender site visit scheduled for August.
With the DFS completed, a maiden Ore Reserve established, permitting under way and indicative financing terms now agreed for most of the project’s development cost, Kokoseb has moved substantially closer to the point at which Wia will have to make the final decisions required to turn the 2021 discovery into an operating Namibian gold mine.
