The Karibib lithium project has been sold to UK based African Critical Elements Ltd (ACE) after lying dormant for years.
The project owns the Rubikon and Helikon mines, which have produced lithium since the 1950s. It is currently owned by Lepidico Canada through a Namibian subsidiary.
The Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) said on Thursday that it had received the application from ACE to purchase the project in April this year and intends to approve the purchase.
“[ACE] is a new entrant and they are not operational in Namibia. The mine has also been under care and maintenance [since 2022] and there has been no production taking place.
As a result, the proposed transaction will not result in the prevention or substantial lessening of competition,” NaCC analyst Leena Shikongo said at a conference on Thursday.
The project includes a mining licence (ML204) and an exclusive prospecting licence, but is inactive and currently has no employees.
“[ACE] indicated that their rationale is to finance the resumption of drilling at the Karibib mine and then to continue with other mining exploration activities and arranging funding for on-site processing of those minerals, thereby adding value and increasing local employment,” Shikongo says.
Lepidico took over the project in 2018, but its parent company entered liquidation in May 2025.
The company tried to sell the project to Canadian ILC Critical Minerals earlier this year. The transaction failed after the Canadian Stock Exchange did not give permission in time.
African Critical Elements was formed in February 2026 by the ILC chairman, John Wisbey, and ILC director Maurice Brooks.
“[Karibib] was identified as an interesting company that had already completed its feasibility study, and it was already exploring a certain potential for metals beyond lithium. So the acquiring undertaking established African Critical Elements for the purposes of acquiring [the Karibib project],” Shikongo says.
Wisbey could not be reached for comment on this article.
The lawyer representing Lepidico and ACE, Aidan Scallan, says ACE’s capital will rescue the Karibib project.
“Lepidico Limited, the Australian parent company, experienced severe financial distress caused by the global collapse in the lithium prices and entered into voluntary administration in December 2024 and thereafter was placed in liquidation in May 2025. The liquidator then declared the shares worthless.
The Karibib project was left unfunded and at risk of insolvency and facing the loss of its mining licences,” Scallan said at Thursday’s conference.
Without selling to ACE, the mines may be permanently closed, he said.
“ACE has already deployed significant capital into Namibia, tens of millions of Namibian dollars, to cover salaries, employment taxes, operating costs and initial drilling, and this represents concrete, tangible foreign direct investment at a time when the project had no other source of funding,” Scallan says.
The mine expects to employ 30 people directly after the transaction is approved.
