Osino Resources has received a provisional confirmation from the Ministry of Mines and Energy for a 20-year mining licence for its Twin Hills gold project.
The miner recently released a pre-feasibility study for Twin Hills based on 2.15 million ounces in reserves, outlining a 13-year open-pit mine life with an average annual gold production rate of 169 thousand ounces per annum at all-in sustaining costs of US$930/ounce in the 10 years of operation.
“We are very pleased to have received confirmation from Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy for the Preparedness to Grant of a 20-year mining licence for the Twin Hills Gold Project subject to the fulfilment of some remaining conditions which are customary under Namibia’s regulatory regime. Receipt of the mining licence is a major endorsement of the progress Osino has made with the advancement of the Twin Hills Gold Project and confirms the support of the Namibian government for the ongoing development of the project.
“Twin Hills’s stature as one of Namibia’s most exciting mining development projects continues to grow and we are very appreciative of the partnership shown by all Namibian permitting authorities throughout this process,” Osino CEO Heye Daun said.
Osino noted that the mining licence is subject to fulfillment of a number of customary conditions which include, among others, adherence to an agreed work programme, conclusion of environmental authorisation, and implementation of a 5% carried interest for local shareholders.
The listed Canadian gold exploration and development company also announced that it had received a positive review of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP), confirming no fatal project flaws.
“Granting of the conditional mining licence and progress with environmental authorisation de-risks the permitting timeline and confirms Namibian regulatory support for the rapid advancement of Osino’s Twin Hills gold project into the development phase,” it said.
Meanwhile, the listed company announced on Tuesday that it had appointed UK-based Terrafranca Capital Partners Ltd as its debt advisor, to assist with the debt financing for the development of its Twin Hills Gold Project.
“We are very pleased to announce the formal appointment of Terrafranca as Osino’s project finance advisor, with the task of securing the necessary project debt to enable Osino to construct the Twin Hills Gold Project. Terrafranca’s track record and experience across commercial banks, credit funds, DFIs and royalty and stream providers, combined with the robust economics of Twin Hills makes us very confident inclosing a well-structured financing package.
“After an initial lenders’ site visit to Namibia in June 2022, Osino is very encouraged by the strong interest received from a variety of potential lenders and financiers. Now that the PFS has been concluded, Terrafranca has commenced a formal process with the aim of concluding a comprehensive debt financing package for the construction of the project,” Daun said.
Osino is a Canadian gold exploration and development company focused on the fast-tracked advancement of its wholly owned Twin Hills gold project in central Namibia. Since its grassroots discovery by Osino in August 2019 the company has completed more than 220,000m of drilling and advanced technical studies on the project, culminating in the recently published Twin Hills PFS.
In July Osino Resources Corp completed the acquisition of Ondundu gold exploration property in Namibia from B2Gold for a total consideration of N$257.3 million in a deal where B2Gold Mining Investments Limited has agreed to receive Osino Resources Corporation shares in lieu of cash.
