Nujoma does not go into detail but hints that the new company did not have sufficient metallurgical expertise to process the ores and did not invest in training/education.

The mines in question were Tsumeb, Matchless and Kombat. I think all three were basically exhausted. The three were sold to a private company in 2005 and they managed to reopen them for 3 years before going bust. Noone has been able to re-open them for a prolonged period since.

Though when Nujoma says "Namibia's government" he presumably also means he, himself, personally did this, as he was Namibia's president at the time.

The company Ongopolo Mining and Processing Limited lasted until 2005 when it was liquidated and the mines were sold to a private company, which closed the mines again in 2008.

I've tried to switch a couple of times, but end up switching back as collaborators and clients almost all use Word. More people using Google Docs now though.

Also, nice to be quoted as "Duncan Money, a noted historian of mining"!

The world mines so much coal (9.2 billion tons in 2024) that any decrease in coal production will more than offset increases in the metals mined to produce renewable energy technologies.

Source: www.loc.gov/resource/sn8...

As the advert says, "Gold mines no longer interest them; the cry is "Copper!""

These companies were only "Nigerian" in a nominal sense. Both were scams organised by City of London insiders and never actually mined any tin.