Horizon Copper is pressing ahead with its plans to restart the historic Kombat Mine in Namibia, with new investments aimed at improving efficiency and expanding metal recovery.
The company is developing a dedicated lead circuit — a long-considered addition that will complement copper production and strengthen the mine’s revenue base.
“They’re also putting in some of the measures we had hoped to implement earlier, such as ore sorting and recovering lead.
The mine always had a lead component in the ore, and they’re now developing a dedicated lead circuit,” said Trigon Metals CEO Jed Richardson, whose company previously operated Kombat before transferring ownership to Horizon.
Richardson said Horizon has already made significant progress in preparing for production, including dewatering and infrastructure upgrades.
“There’s been significant investment already — a lot of work on planning the restart and dewatering,” he said. “It’ll be good ultimately for Namibia and for the Kombat community, which we still hold dear. This is a good transaction for everyone. We’ve now got capital to move ahead with our new investments in Morocco, while Kombat will be restarted — hopefully bigger and better than before.”
He also detailed the financial consideration attached to the transaction, which depend on copper price performance and production milestones. “Interestingly, Horizon plans to push for larger production immediately,” Richardson explained. “That has a significant impact on us because not only do we have the principal consideration, but we also have the consideration for the expanded scenario.
“At current copper prices — around US$10,000 per tonne — that would trigger another payment of US$13 million (about N$244 million), bringing the total to US$37 million (roughly N$694 million) when combined with the base consideration of US$24 million (around N$450 million), plus a royalty valued at approximately US$5 million (about N$94 million).
Altogether, we’d be looking at around US$42 million, or approximately N$788 million in total consideration for the asset,” Richardson said.
He added that stronger copper prices could unlock further upside. “There are a couple of other scenarios if metal prices continue to accelerate,” he noted. “There’s even an outside chance that we get that US$13 million payment sooner if we reach around US$15,000 per tonne (about N$282,000 per tonne), at which point our royalty would also increase.”
Located near Grootfontein in the Otjozondjupa region, the Kombat Mine has a production legacy dating back to 1962, having produced more than 12 million tonnes of ore containing copper, lead, and silver.
Now under Horizon Copper, the mine is set to re-emerge as a modern, multi-metal producer, supported by new capital, ore-sorting technology, and the introduction of a lead recovery circuit.
If progress continues as planned, commercial production could resume within the next development cycle, positioning Kombat as both an operational success and a symbol of industrial renewal for the mining-dependent community that shares its name.
