Wia Gold advances Kokoseb toward construction with reserve and funding pathway

Kokoseb reaches the financing threshold for development

Wia Gold Limited (ASX:WIA) is no longer presenting Kokoseb as merely a promising Namibian discovery. Its 2026 annual report sets out a proposed open-pit operation with a maiden 1.95 million ounce Probable Ore Reserve, a 14-year mine life and first gold targeted for the fourth quarter of 2028. The company says the project is fully funded to first gold once its proposed Sprott debt facility completes, though that facility remains indicative and non-binding.

The Definitive Feasibility Study puts pre-production capital at US$475 million, including US$50 million for strategic water and power infrastructure. At a base-case gold price of US$3,600 an ounce, Kokoseb is forecast to produce an average 150,000 ounces a year during its first decade, with a post-tax NPV of US$1.214 billion, a 41% IRR and a 21-month payback period. Those are project-study outcomes, not operating results, and the company flags the usual exposure to construction costs, delays, power, water and gold prices.

Resource growth adds underground optionality

The reserve sits inside a larger 3.78 million ounce Mineral Resource, up 29% from the previous estimate. The resource includes 3.23 million ounces in the open-pit component and a maiden 0.56 million ounce underground Inferred Resource grading 2.2 grams per tonne. Mineralisation remains open at depth along more than five kilometres of strike, while drilling continues with six diamond rigs.

Wia also reports a conceptual underground Exploration Target of 10 million to 15 million tonnes at approximately 2 to 2.5 grams per tonne gold. That target is explicitly not a Mineral Resource and has insufficient exploration behind it for economic conclusions. The distinction matters: the mine plan is based on the open-pit reserve, while the underground material is upside still requiring drilling and resource conversion.

Equity is secured, debt remains conditional

Shareholders approved the A$125 million placement announced in August, taking equity raised since May 2026 to A$217 million. Combined with A$119.1 million in cash and at-call deposits at 30 June, the balance sheet is materially stronger than a year earlier, when cash stood at A$29 million. The proposed Sprott package comprises US$360 million of senior secured debt and a US$15 million subscription commitment in a future equity raise, with 67.5 million warrants to be issued at financial close.

That final step is not administrative window dressing. The facility remains subject to due diligence, investment committee approval, definitive documents and the grant of the Mining Licence and Environmental Clearance Certificate. Wia is targeting financial close in the fourth quarter of 2026, with US$50 million available to draw at close and the balance earmarked for construction.

Pre-production accounts remain loss-making

Financially, Wia is still a developer rather than a producer. The group reported a FY2026 net loss of A$16.13 million, compared with A$5.35 million in the prior year, while exploration and evaluation expenditure rose to A$24.0 million. Share-based payment expense reached A$4.61 million, and the company recognised A$10.98 million of impairment and disposal-related write-downs linked mainly to its Côte d’Ivoire exit and surrendered Namibian tenements.

The annual report records no dividends and no operating revenue beyond A$1.97 million of interest income. Its immediate financial strength therefore comes from capital raising rather than cash generation. The next balance-sheet story will depend on whether the debt package reaches financial close on acceptable terms and how quickly cash moves from execution readiness into construction.

Permitting and construction are the next tests

Wia says its Mining Licence application was submitted in October 2025 and its Environmental and Social Impact Assessment in March 2026, with both key approvals anticipated in the second half of 2026. A six-month execution readiness phase has begun, covering detailed execution planning, FEED, procurement and site investigations. Main construction is expected to take approximately 22 months after commencement.

That timetable leaves the company with a concentrated run of catalysts: permits, financial close, early works, procurement and construction performance. The headline economics are compelling on the study assumptions, but the investment case is now less about discovering whether Kokoseb is large enough and more about converting a study and conditional funding package into a permitted mine without losing time or capital.