Shanjin adds Namibia's third gold mine

Twin Hills has moved into construction, cementing Osino Resources and its Chinese parent, Shanjin International Gold, at the centre of Namibia's next wave of gold production, a US$475 million (N$7.79 billion) development expected to yield an average 162 000 ounces annually over a 13-year mine life.

For investors tracking Namibia's mining pipeline, Twin Hills represents a significant addition to a sector already anchored by Navachab and Otjikoto. Located near Karibib in the Erongo region, the project holds more than two million ounces of proven and probable reserves, reserves that underpinned Shanjin's decision to take Osino private in a C$368 million (N$4.25 billion) all-cash deal completed in August 2024.

That transaction, which saw the acquirer previously trade as Yintai Gold, gave Shanjin full ownership of what was, at the time, one of Africa's most advanced undeveloped gold assets. It also brought with it Osino's broader Namibian exploration portfolio, extending the Chinese group's footprint in the country's resources sector beyond a single mine.

Bulk earthworks, civil works and contractor mobilisation began in 2025, Osino says, marking the formal transition from feasibility study to construction. The company expects the build to generate approximately 1 000 construction jobs, with around 800 permanent roles once the mine reaches production — a labour dividend that will register with policymakers weighing the mining sector's contribution to employment amid Namibia's broader push to diversify beyond diamonds and uranium.

The economics behind the investment case were set out in Osino's 2023 definitive feasibility study, which modelled a conventional open-pit operation feeding a five-million-tonne-per-year carbon-in-leach processing plant. The study pointed to a 92% recovery rate and a payback period of just 2.2 years, metrics that will matter to Shanjin's shareholders as they assess returns on a project now several years removed from its original 2019 discovery.

Since then, more than 282 000 metres of drilling have gone into defining the deposit, one of the largest undeveloped gold resources in the country. Measured and indicated resources currently stand at 84.3 million tonnes grading 1.08 grams of gold per tonne, about 2.94 million ounces, with a further 250 000 ounces classified as inferred, leaving room for reserve growth as mining advances.

For Namibia, Twin Hills adds a third producing gold mine to the national ledger, reinforcing gold's role alongside uranium as a pillar of the mining sector's export earnings, and giving the Bank of Namibia and Namibia Securities Exchange-watchers another data point as they track the sector's contribution to gross domestic product and foreign investment inflows.