Chamwe Kaira
Navachab Gold Mine at Karibib plans to spend N$4 billion on an exploration drilling programme over the next four years.
The managing director of Navachab Gold Mine, George Botshiwe, said the ore body is now too deep for open-pit mining. The mine also produces silver as a by-product.
Opened in 1989 with a planned lifespan of nine years, the mine has since expanded its processing capacity but has faced challenges such as limited water, power supply, and funds.
Located 10km from Karibib and 180km west of Windhoek, Navachab has been owned by QKR NMH since acquiring it from AngloGold Ashanti in 2014.
Botshiwe said Navachab now operates 78 pieces of equipment and has gold reserves estimated at 2.43 million ounces.
The mine employs 889 direct employees and 598 contractors. In 2024, it recorded its highest annual gold production of 125 449 ounces, up 18% from 2023. Total material mined fell by 7% from 24.6 million tonnes to 22.9 million tonnes due to equipment availability issues in the first half of the year.
Botshiwe announced that construction of the Karibib Medical Centre will start in the last quarter of this year as part of the company’s corporate social investment.
The project will cost N$80 million, with N$20 million set aside for the 2025/26 financial year.
“The centre is earmarked as a service for the ever-growing population of Karibib and the surrounding farms,” he said.
Discussions with the ministry of health and social services are ongoing. The Karibib Town Council has donated the land, surveying and geotechnical work is complete, and architects and quantity surveyors have been appointed.
The company is also building an SME park with 10 units for small businesses. TransNamib has donated the land for this project. Navachab has completed and handed over a mortuary at Otjimbigwe, 60 km south of Karibib, at a cost of N$4 million. The settlement has about 6,000 residents, with the nearest mortuaries in Karibib, Usakos, or Swakopmund.
In Uis, Navachab funded an electrification project in the Usab informal settlement at a cost of N$2.9 million. Botshiwe said the project is meant to improve safety and development by reducing shack fires, rape cases, and criminal activity.
