New Mupane owners target refinery
Lewanika Timothy | Monday July 6, 2026 06:00
After a protracted legal wrangle in which the Nova Africa Resources/Aga One joint venture emerged victorious, investors have revealed to BusinessWeek that they have bigger plans to turn the Mupane assets into a base for a regional refinery targeting exports to the United States.
Aga One is a major Turkish giant gold refiner.
Speaking to BusinessWeek, Turkish investor, Gokhan Yilmaz, said the consortium expects to conclude due diligence within the next two to six months, after which it intends to move swiftly to revive operations at the dormant mine.
'We are targeting a restart around the middle of 2027, though I should stress that any timeline is subject to regulatory approvals and the completion of due diligence. 'Mupane has a real advantage here because it is a brownfield operation, not a greenfield one. “The licenses, the processing plant and the core infrastructure already exist, which significantly reduces development risk and shortens the path back to production,' he said.
According to Yilmaz, the kick start of operations is subject to due diligence confirming viability and the granting of mining licenses to begin operating the assets of Mupane gold mine.
'From our side, our expectation is to finalise everything very quickly. I think it will take between two and six months to move it from care and maintenance. 'We are not getting the entity itself, we are getting the assets. The most important part of those assets is, of course, the mining licences. Once those are secured, we can confirm that the deal is done and start mining,' he said.
Plans to revive mining operations come weeks after the Court of Appeal, delivered a judgment clearing the way for Nova Africa Resources and its partner, Aga One Commodities, to acquire the Mupane assets after months of legal wrangling.
The country's apex court overturned an earlier High Court interdict obtained by rival bidder Ulsan Botswana, describing the unsuccessful bidder as a 'grumpy loser intent on frustrating the liquidation process'. The Court of Appeal upheld appeals brought by Mupane liquidator Kopanang Thekiso and the Nova consortium, effectively removing the final legal obstacle to the transaction.
The Mupane mine, located about 30 kilometres southeast of Francistown, ceased operations in March 2024 amid severe financial difficulties and was subsequently placed under liquidation. Creditors approved the sale of the mine to the Nova-led consortium after it submitted a $21 million offer, but the process became mired in litigation that delayed the transfer for nearly a year.
Now with the legal greenlight, Yilmaz has expressed optimism on the prospects of running a profitable gold refinery targeting exports to western markets.
'There is no gold refinery in Botswana. This is one of our biggest targets. 'Mining itself, Botswana has been doing for more than 50 years. “It has huge experience in mining. We don't believe we can bring extraordinary know-how on the mining side. “But when we talk about refining, minting and even jewellery manufacturing that is where we believe we can add real value,' he said.
The company is also eyeing reprocessing Mupane's estimated 16 million tonnes of tailings, a prospect made increasingly attractive by soaring global gold prices.
'Gold prices are now approaching US$4,000 per ounce. 'If our initial studies are confirmed, it appears it could be economical to process the tailings dump as well,' Yilmaz said.