Rosh Pinah's RP2.0 expansion nears the finish line at 95% complete

Rosh Pinah Zinc Corporation's RP2.0 expansion project was more than 95% complete as at 29 June 2026, owner Appian Capital Advisory said, keeping the Namibian zinc-lead mine on track to complete the upgrade in the third quarter of 2026 with ramp-up to follow shortly after.

A steady march to completion

The milestone capped a run of infrastructure commissionings during the first half of 2026, including Namibia's first paste backfill plant in February and a new water treatment plant in May, both designed to support the higher throughput RP2.0 targets. The expansion includes a newly developed underground portal and decline giving access to extended parts of the orebody.

What RP2.0 delivers

Once complete, RP2.0 will lift Rosh Pinah's mill throughput from 700,000 tonnes to 1.3-million tonnes of ore a year, nearly doubling the mine's processing capacity. In 2025, the mine produced 618,000 tonnes of ore at an average zinc grade of 6.18%, yielding 33,323 tonnes of zinc metal and 4,400 tonnes of lead metal — figures the expansion is intended to substantially increase.

Why it matters

Appian's 90% ownership of Rosh Pinah, acquired from Canada's Trevali in 2022, has been built around the thesis that the decades-old mine's orebody could support a much larger operation with the right capital investment. Reaching 95% completion without major delays or cost blowouts would validate that approach and position Rosh Pinah as a significantly larger contributor to Namibia's base-metals output.

What happens next

The final months of construction will focus on commissioning the last remaining infrastructure before ramp-up begins, with the market likely to watch closely for confirmation that the mine can translate the expanded plant into a corresponding increase in zinc and lead output through the rest of 2026 and into 2027.

A smooth completion would stand in useful contrast to the cost overruns and delays that have affected comparable base-metal expansions elsewhere on the continent in recent years.

A smooth completion, without the cost overruns and delays that have affected comparable base-metal expansions elsewhere on the continent in recent years, would strengthen Appian's case for further investment in Namibia's mining sector beyond Rosh Pinah alone.

Sources

• Fastmarkets: Rosh Pinah zinc mine aims to double production by 2026 – Appian Capital Advisory, 29 Jun 2026

Photo: The town of Rosh Pinah in southern Namibia, next to the zinc-lead mine undergoing the RP2.0 expansion. Hp.Baumeler, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.