Deep-South Resources Inc. has announced that the Namibian legal counsel of the Company and its subsidiary, Haib Minerals (Pty) Ltd (“Haib”), have amended and supplemented the original application on behalf of Haib with the High Court of Namibia for an order that the Minister of Mines and Energy should grant the renewal of the Haib Copper EPL 3140 licence within 30 days of the issuing of the order.
The Ministry has not filed any documents supporting the process followed by the Minister, the Mining Commissioner and the Ministry’s relevant officials assessing and deliberating on the Haib renewal application for the Haib Copper EPL 3140 licence.
This lack of internal process documentation regarding the Minister’s decision to refuse the renewal of the licence was made evident in the court proceedings, thereby providing no written evidence of a meaningful evaluation of the merits of Haib’s licence renewal application.
Paper trail
It is to be assumed that the Minister did not receive any documentation or evaluation by the Mining Commissioner or any of his staff relating to the exploration activities carried out on the Haib Copper licence. Therefore, the decision seemed to have been taken without any paper trail showing a reasonable and fair administrative process thus violating Haib’s rights in terms of Article 18 of the Namibian constitution.
The Company will provide regular updates in this regard and any other matter concerning this situation. While recovering Haib Copper mineral rights remains a top priority for the Company, Management continues to seek another copper project. Some projects have been identified and discussions with their owners are taking place. The Company will provide an update on the matter in due course.
