Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources have proposed the enactment of legislation that would grant Epangelo Mining Company the authority to hold a stake in all mining agreements in Namibia, similar to the role played by NAMCOR in representing the state in petroleum agreements.
Established in 2008, Epangelo Mining is a state-owned enterprise responsible for exploring and mining natural resources on behalf of the government.
Initially, the company held 40 exclusive prospecting licences (EPLs), but the number has since decreased to 10.
During a mining and energy workshop in Swakopmund, Epangelo CEO Eliphas Hawala informed the attending parliamentarians that acquiring EPLs has become challenging.
Consequently, the company is required to purchase these licences on the market like any other interested party.
“With Swakop Uranium, that was an EPL owned by somebody else; we went in to get 10% on behalf of the government; it took us about a whole year to negotiate because we don’t have the funding. We had to borrow the funds from a Chinese partner for about $2 billion to buy 10% of the shares. A similar situation also occurred with Navachab: we came in, we got 7.5%, and we also had to borrow money out.”
Due to a lack of funds, Epangelo sells its shares in its EPLs in exchange for money.
“At the moment, there is a vacuum; we don’t know if we have to continue on the commercial route where we are to give away our shares in exchange for money or whether there would be some legislation, so we are pushing for legislation to be put in place that would give the government an automatic share in at least the strategic minerals so we don’t have to compete with people with money.”
However, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, Tjekero Tweya, emphasised that Epangelo Mining needs to raise funds through various stock exchange platforms, which would enable the company to secure the necessary capital for its operations.
“How does the same company that has assets in Namibia that are becoming multimillionaires get them on the same international markets but you cannot? Unless you are not fit to be there, then give it to somebody else to do it.”
Epangelo Mining has discovered a substantial gold deposit worth N$70 billion in the Daures Constituency.
Once the mining operations are fully operational, the state-owned enterprise will hold a 20% ownership stake in the venture.
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