Name of the Project
Haib copper project.

Location
Near Noordover, in the south of Namibia. 

Project Owner/s
Copper exploration and development company Koryx Copper, formerly Deep-South Resources.

Project Description
An updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) has shown the  project to be amenable to bioheap-leaching.

The PEA envisages a life-of-mine of 24 years and a throughput of 20-million tonnes a year, with copper recovery estimated at 80%, and production estimated at 35 332 t/y of copper cathode and 51 081 t/y of copper sulphate.

The mine design is based on openpit methods. As the deposit comprises hard-rock material, the mining operations will involve the drill and blast of all excavated material, which will be segregated by cutoff grade.

The mining fleet will consist of appropriately sized hydraulic excavators and off-highway dump trucks, supported by standard opencut drilling and auxiliary equipment.

There will not be any tailings. The spent heaps will be rehabilitated and left in place. Owing to environmental reasons and water resources, the tailings from the pH adjustment process and the iron removal process will be disposed onto the spent heaps using filtered dry-stacked tailings.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a discount 7.5% rate, of $2.26-billion, and an internal rate of return 52.2%%, with a payback of 2.4 years.

Capital Expenditure
Capital expenditure is estimated at $341-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Koryx Copper has confirmed that a large-scale C$20-million technical programme is to be completed at its Haib copper project this year.

This 2025 technical strategy comprises an intensive drill and study programme, which will include more than 55 000 m of growth and quality improvement drilling. This is aimed at increasing the size and grade of the Haib mineral resource estimate, as well as multiple technical, environmental and metallurgical studies.

The programme will result in an updated PEA, which is designed to replace the outdated historical PEA from 2021, and to describe the scope of the new project, thereby serving as the basis for the mine permitting process.

This will be followed up by a definitive feasibility study (DFS), planned to be published before the end of 2026.

Koryx has said the fast-tracked technical strategy of drilling, study, infrastructure and permitting activities represents a significant step-change in the development of Haib, and is geared towards the rapid development of the project to the bankability stage, with major permitting and all technical studies to be concluded by the end of 2026.

As part of the 2025 work programme, the company is hoping to improve the grade and size of the mineral resource while proving the economic feasibility of a much larger conventional flotation concentrate process, as well as subsequent heap leaching for lower-grade material.

Under this scope, Haib could produce clean copper concentrate and refined copper cathodes, president and CEO Heye Daun said on January 23.

Owing to its low altitude of 500 m above mean sea level, its proximity to key infrastructure and the favourable permitting and mining-friendly jurisdiction, Haib had the potential to become a high-quality, low-risk global copper development project, he added.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
METS Engineering Group (updated PEA); Knight Piésold Consulting (scoping studies and assessments); Csiro (conduct bio-assisted heap-leaching column testwork); METS Engineering Group of Australia (testwork supervision); MSA Group (NI 43-101-compliant mineral resource estimate); Knight Piésold Consulting (ESIA) and Ferrodrill Namibia (drilling contract).

Contact Details for Project Information
Koryx Copper (Namibia), tel +264 61 435 8267 or email info@koryxcopper.com.