The long running court case between Deep-South Resources and Namibian mines minister back February 2023

Deep-South Resources and the Namibia mines ministry will return to court on 23 February 2023 over the refusal by minister Tom Alweendo to renew the Haib Copper mine licence.

The Haib Copper mine is 23km from Noordoewer town in Namibia's//Karas region.

The government of Namibia granted Deep-South exclusive prospecting licence 3140 for three years from 22 April 2004 to 21 April 2007.

The case has been in the Namibian courts since 16 July 2022, when Alweendo told the Canadian company that he was not renewing the exclusive prospecting licence 3140 that covers 74,563 ha.

Alweendo cited Deep South Resources' failure to advance the licence to prefeasibilty and complete the proposed drilling programme according to plan.

How the case played out in 2021-2022

16 June 2021

Deep-South Resources announces that it has received notice from the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Namibia informing them that its application for the renewal of its exclusive prospecting licence 3140 has been denied citing the inability to advance to pre-feasibility and complete the proposed drilling program. 

Deep-South chief executive officer Pierre Léveillé said the minister's decision was surprising because the company was well-funded and moving ahead with an extensive development program.

"We believe that a meeting with the Minister will remove any possible misunderstanding, and the situation will be rectified in the shortest time frame possible. We are hopeful that our efforts to meet with the Minister will reach a positive outcome," he said.

23 June 2021

Deep-South Resources representatives met with Alweendo and mines ministry officials to voice objections to the refusal to renew its Haib Copper license. Alweendo said he would review all the information provided and reconsider his decision, which will be communicated.

Deep-South chairman John Akwenye expressed hope that Alweendo would "reach a positive outcome".

June 24, 2021 

Deep-South Resources announced that Alweendo had refused to renew the licence. The company also said it intended "to vigorously contest this decision by all means necessary and available under the Minerals (Prospecting and Mining) Act and other applicable laws of Namibia."

July 21, 2021 

Deep-South Resources announced that its Namibian legal counsel and its subsidiary, Haib Minerals (Pty) Ltd, had filed an application with the High Court of Namibia for an order reviewing Alweendo's decision to refuse Haib's licence renewal.

The application also seeks an urgent interdict to prevent the mines from granting a licence over the same area to anyone else.

The affidavit listed Alweendo, the mining commissioner and Orange River Exploration - the company that had shown interest in the licence since November 2020.

September 1, 2021

The High Court of Namibia interdicted the mines ministry from granting a mineral licence, including an exclusive and prospecting licence, in terms of the Minerals Act 1992, to any person or company over the area covered by the Haib Copper project.

The interdict and restraining order were in force until the final determination of the application to the High Court to review Alweendo's decision not to renew the Haib licence.

September 24, 2021 

The High Court of Namibia ordered the mines ministry to file the documents supporting Alweendo's decision to refuse the Haib Copper licence renewal. 

The court gave Haib Minerals until October 21, 2021, to supplement or amend its documents filed on July 20, 2021.

November 2, 2021 

The High Court of Namibia ordered the mines ministry to complete its filing of the documents supporting Alweendo's decision to refuse the Haib Copper licence renewal before November 11, 2021. 

The order was given after the mines ministry had submitted incomplete documents on October 21, 2021. The documents did not include any documents directly related to Alweendo's decision to deny the renewal of the Haib Copper licence.

November 12, 2021

The mines ministry legal counsel requested an additional week to complete the filing of the documents supporting Alweendo's decision to refuse the Haib Copper licence renewal. 

The High Court of Namibia granted the requested time. It gave Deep-South’s legal counsel ten court days to review the documents and decide if Haib Minerals would supplement its affidavit and supporting documents. 

 Haib Minerals legal counsel requested the court to issue an Order to facilitate a fair and expeditious determination of the original application to review Alweendo's decision.

December 1, 2021 

The mines ministry's legal counsel proceeded with their last filing on November 17, 2021. The filing did not include any documents supporting Alweendo's decision to deny the renewal of the Haib Copper licence. 

Due to the absence of the judge, Deep-South’s legal counsel and the mines ministry legal counsel agreed to request the court to issue an order to allow Deep-South to file additional documents to support its original affidavit by December 15, 2021. 

The additional documents would include expert advice covering the exploration work carried out by Deep-South on the project and the work program proposed for the renewal of the Haib Copper licence. The documents would also include an update on the funds invested in the project development. 

December 21, 2021 

Deep-South's Namibian legal counsel and Haib Minerals amended and supplemented the original application with the High Court for an order that Alweendo grants the renewal of the Haib Copper licence within 30 days of the issuing of the order.

The mines ministry did not file any documents supporting the process followed by Alweendo, the mining commissioner and the relevant officials assessing and deliberating on the Haib renewal application for the Haib Copper licence. 

June 24, 2022 

The court ordered the parties to file their Case Management report by June 27, 2022.

July 5, 2022 

The court ordered the following:

• Haib Minerals must file its heads of argument 15 days (September 12, 2022) before the hearing.
• Alweendo and the other respondents must file their heads of argument ten days (September 19, 2022) before the hearing.
• The indexed and paginated papers and the record must be filed by September 23, 2022.
• The hearing was set for October 3 and 4, 2022.

October 4, 2022

 

The judge indicated that a written judgment would be expected on November 18, 2022.

November 16, 2022 

The High Court of Namibia postponed the verdict to February 23, 2023. The judge is using the limit of the three months allotted by the rules of the High Court to render his verdict.

The judge indicated that he has read the parties' pleadings and other documents filed with the court and that the judgement is not ready yet.