Mineral exploration and development company Deep-South Resources' Haib copper licence has been reinstated by the Namibia Ministry of Mines and Energy with the status “pending renewal”.
After a long court battle, the High Court of Namibia in March ordered the Ministry to restart Deep-South’s licence renewal application procedure and arrive at a new decision.
This followed the Ministry's decision in 2021 to not renew the company's Haib licence.
Deep-South says the application procedure is well advanced and that it expects a final decision in the coming weeks.
As the licence has been reinstated, pending renewal of the Mining Cadastre of the Ministry, officials of the Ministry have invited the company to resume exploration work at any time. However, Deep-South's management considers it prudent to await the renewal decision before resuming work.
"We are confident that the licence will be renewed in a timely manner. We have visited the site last week in order to prepare resumption of exploration and to be ready to start the work quickly when the final decision will be rendered,“ Deep-South president and CEO Pierre Leveille says.