Golden Deeps Limited has announced the discovery of high-grade gallium at its Nosib Prospect, located in Namibia’s Otavi Mountain Land.
Gallium has been identified as gallium trioxide, with concentrations reaching up to 538 grams per tonne. It is found alongside a suite of other valuable critical metals, including copper, vanadium, lead, silver, germanium, and antimony.
According to the company, the high-grade gallium intersections are found from surface level to depths of around 50 metres, occurring within an oxide/saprolite zone enriched with vanadium, copper, lead, and silver.
Notably, this mineralised zone remains open to the east and west, presenting a strong opportunity for further expansion through additional drilling.
Golden Deeps is now set to undertake more extensive sampling and full assaying across the project area to pinpoint key exploration zones and define new drilling targets.
Golden Deeps Chief Executive Officer Jon Dugdale emphasized the growing importance of these critical metals and their potential to elevate the project’s value.
“The identification at Nosib of more high-grade gallium, alongside other critical metals such as copper, vanadium, germanium and antimony, has enhanced the potential value of this polymetallic discovery,” Dugdale said.
He added that Golden Deeps has recognised numerous exploration opportunities across its broader Otavi Mountain Land portfolio, which includes the Nosib, Abenab, and Khusib Springs projects, as well as the recently acquired Central Otavi tenements.
He further highlighted the strategic advantage of operating in a region rich in metals crucial to global high-tech industries.
“This gives us scope to significantly build on our existing critical metals Mineral Resource base and enhance the value of our projects for development in an area uniquely endowed with a range of metals critical to the world’s high-tech industries,” he added.
Gallium is a critical metal in high demand for its superior performance in high-speed semiconductor chips, LEDs and solar cells.
About 98% of global production comes from China, which imposed export restrictions on gallium (and germanium) in mid-2023. This has restricted supply and driven pricing.
