Name of the Project
Haib copper project.

Location
Partially in the Namaqua-Natal province, in Namibia, called the Richtersveld geological subprovince.

Project Owner/s
Mineral explorer and developer Deep-South Resources, through its subsidiary Haib Minerals.

Project Description
An updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) has shown the Haib 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 $977-million, and an internal rate of return 30.1%, with a payback of 4.22 years.

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

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Deep-South Resources has mobilised a field crew to start a drilling programme.

The company expects the drills to be delivered on site by about November 15 as part of the proposed drilling programme.

The focus of the drilling campaign is to further drill out the high-grade area of the deposit uncovered by Deep-South in 2019.

The original exploration programme was planned to drill up to 10 000 m in the area. The first 5 000 m were drilled in 2021, but the programme had to be suspended when the Namibia Ministry of Mines and Energy refused to renew the exploration and prospecting licence.

Following a legal battle, the licence was renewed in July, consequently enabling Deep-South to complete the remaining 5 000 m of the proposed exploration programme and then proceed with a new resource estimation.

"We are confident to deliver drill results that will enhance an already robust project and unlock further value for our shareholders. With the backdrop of a strong copper price, we are highly optimistic for the coming months. We are well on our way towards the development of the Haib copper project,” president and CEO Perre Leveille has said.

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
Deep-South Resources (Namibia), tel +264 61 435 8267 or email info@deepsouthresources.com.