NamWater and Osino Resources (Osino) on Wednesday inked an agreement to collaborate on the development of water infrastructure and supply to the Twin Hills Gold Mine.
The Twin Hills Gold Mine is expected to start production by 2025 or early 2026.
NamWater as a bulk water supplier said the collaboration will work towards the realisation of the operation of the proposed mine, and its positive impact on the Namibia economy.
“Our areas of cooperation in the MoU speak to reducing water supply risks to the proposed mine. Currently, bulk water for the proposed mine is established to be sourced from the NamWater Kranzberg Borehole Scheme located near the town of Usakos. The water source is found to be adequate to meet the proposed mine water demand during its envisioned period of operation,” said NamWater CEO Abraham Nehemia.
The agreement signed on the sidelines of the ongoing Chamber of Mines expo, further aims to develop water infrastructure such as pipeline and pumping stations to deliver the water to the proposed mine, and will be jointly implemented by both parties to ensure mining timelines are not compromised.
“We are all aware that water plays a critical role in the mining sector, and as a bulk water supplier, we are open to collaborate in de-risking and delivering bulk water to current and future mining projects,” Nehemia assured.
Country manager Werner Schoeman signed on behalf of Osino.
“As a stakeholder in water supply, we are excited to partner with NamWater on the investigation we are conducting on water security. Thus, this agreement shows Osino’s commitment towards collaborative development of water resources and responsible utilisation of such. We therefore look forward to implementing this agreement as we continue doing further investigation with NamWater,” said Nansunga Kambinda, Osino’s manager for Hydrology and Hydrogeology.
Kambinda added that Osino is already making headways into securing water, indicating they have been working with NamWater, more especially on the Kranzberg scheme where they drilled boreholes as part of that investigation.
The next phase she said is incorporating the Spaceborno water scheme, and interrogating how the source can be artificially charged.
“We are further working on the Khan River dam where we are looking at the feasibility of setting up a multipurpose dam. With all these, it signifies our level of involvement in the infrastructure aspect,” Kambinda added.
Osino is a Canadian gold exploration and development company dual-listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange, focused on the fast-tracked advancement of its wholly owned Twin Hills gold project in Namibia.