Midas Minerals is targeting half a million tonnes of contained copper by the first quarter of next year – and a further target to push to one million tonnes by the end of 2027 – as it accelerates exploration across its high-grade Otavi copper-silver project in Namibia, according to Managing Director Mark Calderwood.
Speaking at Africa Down Under, Mr Calderwood said the company, which returned to the African continent late last year after he spent around two decades working on the continent previously, had identified Namibia as a standout jurisdiction on the back of its fiscal stability, infrastructure and English-speaking workforce.
Midas acquired the project from a Brazilian company in May 2025, inheriting the benefit of around US$20 million in prior exploration spend. The company wasted no time putting rigs on the ground, releasing a maiden resource in May this year of around 200,000 tonnes of contained copper – a figure Mr Calderwood described as “just the start”.
The rapid progress has been reflected in Midas Minerals’ market capitalisation, which has grown from around $7 million prior to the transaction to approximately $340 million today.
The company currently has seven drill rigs operating, with two more due to arrive, as it pushes toward a target of nine rigs and beyond. “We won’t stop there. We’ll keep growing the project as we go,” Mr Calderwood said.
Located around four hours north of Windhoek near the town of Otavi, Mr Calderwood said the project benefited from exceptional infrastructure by African standards, including sealed highways he described as “rated better than Australia”, rail and port access just 400km away, high-tension power lines to site and a smelter located less than 100km from the project.
The region also carries more than a century of copper mining history, with the nearby Tsumeb deposit having produced 6 million tonnes of copper, lead and zinc at head grades exceeding 20%. The separate neighbouring Kombat deposit, now partially mined out, also contained around 900,000 tonnes at approximately 3% copper.
Namibia carries a relatively high corporate tax rate of 37.5%, but low royalties, according to Mr Calderwood, who said the combination along with a currency pegged to the South African Rand delivered welcome fiscal and cost stability.
“Our exploration costs per metre are about 50 to 60% of Australian costs, and construction costs in Namibia are much cheaper than anything you’d get in WA,” Mr Calderwood said.
Midas Minerals now controls more than 3,000km² of land, predominantly within 100km of Otavi, with exploration currently focused on three key deposits: T-13, the basis of the existing Mineral Resource; Spaatzu, a potentially significant new discovery; and Deblin, which currently has two rigs on it.
T13 is described by Mr Calderwood as a potentially “extremely low cost” producer, with mineralisation around 30 metres wide grading 3.5–4% copper and two ounces of silver, amenable to both open pit and underground mining. The chalcocite-bornite rich mineralisation is expected to produce high-grade concentrates.
“It’s remarkable how little work’s been done in this part of Namibia in the last 50 years,” Mr Calderwood said.
With seven rigs currently turning and more on the way, Mr Calderwood said Midas Minerals expected to deliver some of the best drill results out of Africa over the next 12 months as it works to infill and extend its existing deposits ahead of feasibility studies.
