Rosh Pinah commissions Namibia's first paste backfill plant

New underground infrastructure supports the RP2.0 expansion, which was more than 85% complete when the plant switched on

RMRoy Mulenga

6 February 20262 min read

Rosh Pinah commissions Namibia's first paste backfill plant

Rosh Pinah Zinc Corporation commissioned Namibia's first paste backfill plant on 6 February 2026, adding key underground infrastructure to support its RP2.0 expansion project at the zinc-lead mine in southern Namibia. Owner Appian Capital Advisory said the broader expansion was more than 85% complete at the time, progressing on schedule and on budget.

What paste backfill does

Paste backfill plants pump a thickened mixture of tailings and binder back into mined-out underground voids, providing structural support that allows adjacent ore to be extracted more safely and completely than with traditional backfill methods. For Rosh Pinah, the new plant is designed to support the higher extraction rates envisaged under RP2.0, which aims to lift mill throughput from 700,000 to 1.3-million tonnes of ore a year.

Part of a broader modernisation

The paste backfill plant is one of several new pieces of underground infrastructure being added under RP2.0, alongside a newly developed portal and decline giving access to extended underground deposits. Appian, which took a 90% stake in Rosh Pinah from Canada's Trevali in 2022, has pursued a systematic modernisation of the mine's infrastructure as part of the expansion.

Why it matters for Namibia's zinc sector

Rosh Pinah has operated since 1969, and the RP2.0 investment represents a significant vote of confidence in the mine's long-term future rather than a managed decline. As one of only a handful of operating base-metal mines in Namibia, alongside the country's much larger uranium sector, Rosh Pinah's expansion diversifies Namibia's mining revenue base beyond its dominant uranium and diamond industries.

What happens next

With the paste backfill plant now operating and RP2.0 approaching completion, the company's focus shifts to ramping up throughput toward the project's target capacity, expected shortly after the wider expansion finishes in the third quarter of 2026.

The plant's completion illustrates how much of a modern mine expansion's cost and complexity lies not in the headline mining equipment but in the supporting infrastructure needed to operate safely at greater depth and scale.

The plant's completion illustrates how much of a modern mine expansion's cost and complexity lies not in the headline mining equipment itself but in the supporting infrastructure needed to operate safely at greater depth and larger scale.