Dundee Precious Metals has bought off Osino Resources Corp. from its Namibian projects, including the Twin Hills open pit gold project, for N$3 989 300 000 (C$287m).
Osino also was developing the Ondundu Gold Project, 130km northwest of Twin Hills, whose inferred mineral reserve is 0,9 million ounces.
The other project is the highly prospective Eureka gold discovery, with recent intercepts including 47 metres of 5.92 g/t of gold, located 35 km northeast of Ondundu.
Osino had an 8,000 km2 regional package of licences with multiple drill-ready gold targets for further exploration in Namibia’s prospective Damara sedimentary mineral belt.
Under the agreement, Dundee will issue 13,766,364 shares to Osino shareholders, and existing Osino shareholders will own approximately 7% of the combined company.
Until this acquisition, Dundee had been operating the Tsumeb smelter in Namibia since 2010 and had established strong relationships with the government and local communities.
Twin Hills is a multi-million-ounce gold project with 2.15 million ounces of Proven and Probable Reserves, discovered by Osino in 2019 and fast-tracked to the pre-construction stage within four years.
The estimated gold production is 175,000 ounces per year over the first five years and 162,000 ounces per year over the 13-year mine life, as outlined in the Twin Hills Feasibility Study.
The project is substantially permitted, with a 20-year mining licence already granted, subject to certain conditions, with only site-level permits still outstanding.
Dundee has a solid financial position, including a cash balance of approximately US$563 million, an undrawn US$150 million revolving credit facility, and no debt.
The company also has robust cash from operating activities and free cash flow generation of US$247 million and US$213 million over the last twelve months.
The acquisition strengthens Dundee’s Mineral Reserve and Resource base, increasing Proven and probable Reserves by 43% to approximately 7.2 million gold ounces and adding 2.9 million ounces of Measured and Indicated Resources and 0.25 Moz. of gold in Inferred Resources.
Additionally, Dundee’s growth pipeline will now be supported by two new high-quality gold discoveries, including Osino’s Twin Hills project in Namibia with targeted production commencing in 2026, as well as DPM’s high-grade Čoka Rakita deposit in Serbia, which has an Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.78 million ounces of gold and where DPM recently initiated a Preliminary Economic Assessment.
Dundee’s enhanced asset portfolio now includes its high-margin production profile of 258,000 ounces of gold annually from the Chelopech and Ada Tepe mines in Bulgaria.
Dundee CEO David Rae said Twin Hills represents a unique opportunity to add a high-quality development asset in an excellent mining jurisdiction to our portfolio.
“The project provides a foundation for our future production profile, with production targeted for 2026 and significant exploration upside,” Rae said.
He added that the transaction also allows Dundee to leverage its strong local relationships in Namibia built over many years and continue focusing on growing the portfolio of gold assets.
“The Osino team have done an excellent job discovering and progressing Twin Hills. We are excited to advance the project and build on their efforts to unlock further value for our stakeholders,” Rae said.
Osino CEO Heye Daun said Dundee is a highly credible and well-financed builder and operator of gold mines with the technical skills and financial resources to progress the project through construction and into production.
“We are very proud to have attracted a company of DPM’s calibre, thereby securing the future development of Twin Hills, which we believe has the potential to become Namibia’s third and largest gold mine.
“Since 2019, the Osino team has made great strides in discovering and advancing Twin Hills and de-risking the project from a technical and permitting perspective,” Daun said.
He added that handing over the project to Dundee at this critical juncture is in the best interest of the shareholders and local stakeholders.
“Our well-established and highly credible Namibian exploration and technical team will continue to contribute meaningfully as DPM takes the project to the next level.”
Source: The Extractor