The Navachab Gold Mine is an open-pit gold mine situated near Karibib, in the Erongo Region of Namibia. The operation is owned by QKR. QKR website, accessed: 8 July 2014
Navachab, the oldest gold mine in Namibia, takes its name from the local Navachab farm, where the gold deposit was found. The deposit is located 6 km south of the Okahandja-Swakopmund road.
History The first gold discoveries in Namibia were made in 1899. Gold mining began in the country in 1933, but was later abandoned because of low grades.Country report: Namibia AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 8 August 2010
The Navachab gold deposit was discovered in October 1984 as a result of an exploration programme conducted. An appraisal was carried out in 1986, followed by a feasibility study in 1987, which determined to proceed with the development of the mine. Construction work at the site began in 1988 and was completed within 21 months. Production started at Navachab in 1989, pouring its first gold bar in December 1989. Originally jointly owned by the Erongo Exploration and Mining Company (70%), the Metal Mining Company of Canada (20%) and Rand Mines Exploration, AngloGold acquired a 70% interest in the mine in 1998, which it increased to a 100% the following year. In 2004, AngloGold and Ashanti merged to form AngloGold Ashanti.
The mine is no longer the only gold mine in Namibia. In 2003, AngloGold made the decision to switch to owner-mining instead of using contractors. The decision was made after the life of the mine could be extended considerably.Navachab to switch to owner mining miningweekly.com, published: 17 October 2003, accessed: 8 August 2010 It was later claimed by some former contract employees that they had been promised permanent jobs with AngloGold after the switch but had not received them.Navachab shrugs off claims on job offers The Namibian, published: 7 July 2004, accessed: 8 August 2010 In 2009, the mine employed 578 people, all of which were permanent employees.Annual Report 2009 AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 27 July 2010
For the first time since the start of operations at Navachab, the mine experienced a fatal accident on 2 June 2009 when a drill-rig operator was fatally injured.
Navachab was acquired by QKR from AngloGold Ashanti in June 2014. QKR is owned mostly by the Qatar Investment Authority's Qatar Holding LLC and Kulczyk Investments.
Production Production figures of the recent past were: Year Production Grade Cost per ounce 2003 Annual Report 2005 AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 11 July 2010 73,000 ounces 1.75 g/t US$ 274 2004 67,000 ounces 1.59 g/t US$ 348 2005 81,000 ounces 2.05 g/t US$ 381 2006 Annual Report 2006 AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 11 July 2010 86,000 ounces 1.81 g/t US$ 265 2007 80,000 ounces 1.56 g/t US$ 419 2008 68,000 ounces 1.43 g/t US$ 534 2009 65,000 ounces 1.58 g/t US$ 622 2010
References
External links AngloGold Ashanti website Navachap mine (NAM-00072) Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States website Gold Geological Survey of Namibia website Controls of gold-quartz vein formation during regional folding in amphibolite-facies, marble-dominated metasediments of the Navachab Gold Mine in the Pan-African Damara Belt, Namibia