Osino Resources has announced plans to forge partnerships within the gold industry, specifically with the Otjikoto and Navachab mines, as it works towards the development of its Twin Hills gold project.
This comes as the Twin Hills gold project’s entrance into the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase, a crucial milestone on its path to production.
The company’s President and CEO, Heye Daun underscored that Osino finds strong appeal in collaborating with an established player in the gold sector, given its relatively small market capitalisation.
“We’ve obviously spoken with a range of parties including the owners of Namibia’s two operating gold mines, Otjikoto and Navachab and something could come of these discussions. The bottom line though is that we are prepared to build the Twin Hills gold project ourselves. It is an amazing project which would pay for itself in little more than two years,” Daun told the Mining Review.
The project’s FEED phase comes after Osino and its consultants successfully completed a definitive feasibility study (DFS) that confirmed the highly positive findings of the preliminary feasibility study (PFS) released a year ago.
Lycopodium Minerals (Canada) has been selected to lead the FEED phase, building on its extensive experience in designing and constructing gold plants in Africa, particularly in West Africa.
Lycopodium’s responsibilities during the FEED phase encompass the design and engineering of the process plant, most site infrastructure, including the tailings storage facility, and the completion of earthworks design.
They will also advance the technical and commercial documentation of long lead items.
Osino Resources is set to play a significant role in the FEED phase, contributing directly to areas such as bulk power supply connection, renewable power supply plans, ground and surface water supply models and designs, and access road rerouting.
To bring the Twin Hills mining project to life, Osino Resources will need to invest N$6.8 billion (US$365 million), according to the recently released DFS results.
The company envisions production commencing by the end of 2025 or early 2026, with a projected mine life of 13 years and a processing capacity of five million tonnes per annum.
In a significant move last year, Osino Resources Corp acquired the Ondundu gold exploration property from B2Gold, with the latter receiving Osino Resources Corporation shares as part of the deal.
B2Gold had previously invested N$157.5 million in exploration expenditure between 2015 and 2021.
Situated within the Damara sedimentary mineral belt and in proximity to the Navachab and Otjikoto gold mines, the Twin Hills project holds great promise for the Namibian gold mining industry. Osino recently listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange. – The Brief/Mining Review