Episode Details

Interview with Heye Daun, President & CEO of Koryx Copper Inc.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/koryx-copper-tsxvkry-seasoned-executives-aim-to-unlock-value-in-huge-namibian-copper-project-6281

Recording date: 1st March 2026

Koryx Copper Inc. is developing the Haib copper project in Namibia, one of sub-Saharan Africa's most stable and established mining jurisdictions. Under the leadership of CEO Heye Daun, a Namibian citizen, mining engineer, and serial dealmaker, the company has transformed a previously mismanaged junior mining asset into a credible large-scale copper development opportunity in under two years.

The Haib project was drilled originally by Rio Tinto in the 1970s but was left undeveloped as copper prices at the time did not support a low-grade sulfide deposit. It eventually passed to Deep South Resources, which proposed bio-heap-leach processing, a method not proven at commercial scale for sulfide material, and subsequently lost its operating licenses. When Daun's team assumed control, they reinstated conventional milling and flotation, the standard and bankable processing route for sulfide copper, and rebuilt both the technical and financial credibility of the asset from the ground up.

The resulting PEA published in 2025 modelled just under 100,000 tonnes of annual copper production at a capital cost of approximately $1.5 billion, using a copper price of $4.30 per pound which roughly 30% below spot at the time of the PDAC 2026 interview. The middle-of-the-cost-curve economics hold up at conservative assumptions, and management's stated approach to study assumptions has historically been validated: on both prior Namibian transactions, the step from PEA to PFS maintained or improved the project scope rather than contracting it.

The next milestone is the PFS, expected by end of 2026. This study will sharpen engineering and cost estimates, providing a more bankable document for potential financing discussions and strategic partner conversations. Alongside the PFS, Koryx is expanding its mineral resource and adding exploration ground around the Haib project, with a new, larger resource estimate expected in the near term.

Financially, the company has moved from a $10 million market capitalisation to raising over $100 million, including a $51 million institutional placement that attracted Middle Eastern and Chinese financial groups as strategic participants. The company states it is sufficiently capitalised to reach an investment decision without further dilutive financing in the near term.

The long-term construction path is expected to involve a major mining company or capital partner given the scale of investment required. Daun has been explicit about this: a $1.5 to $2 billion project is beyond the appropriate scope for a junior developer to build independently. Whether that takes the form of a joint venture, acquisition, or offtake-led financing arrangement will be determined in part by prevailing market conditions and the company's share price at the time of the investment decision.

For investors, the near-term investment case rests on two catalysts: the mineral resource expansion and the PFS delivery. Both are well-defined, time-bounded events that, if executed credibly, represent meaningful de-risking steps for an asset that already has institutional and strategic interest at the door.

View Koryx Copper's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/koryx-copper

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