Tsumeb celebrates its copper history

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Tsumeb copper smelter, which has become an icon for Namibia’s manufacturing industry. Tsumeb owes its existence to copper, and for better or for worse, the town’s fate has always been tied to that of the metal. To celebrate this indelible part of its raison d’etre, Tsumeb annually holds a copper festival supported in no small measure by the owner of the smelter, Dundee Precious Metals.

Vice President of Dundee Precious Metals Tsumeb and General Manager of the plant, Hans Nolte said at the Copper Festival, “We have spent nearly 1 billion dollars over the past three years to upgrade all facets of the smelter, and I’m pleased to say we are very much on target to spend a further 2 billion dollars to make our company a global competitor.”
This is the sixth year that Dundee Precious Metals Tsumeb, formerly known as Namibia Custom Smelters, has been the main sponsor of the Copper Festival. Nolte said “Looking back, we see how the festival has grown and developed to be the most popular event on the Tsumeb social calendar. And we are proud to be a part of its continuing success.”
Among other things, the Copper Festival acts as a showcase for the successes of Tsumeb and surrounding communities. Nolte continued “In particular we have a chance to look at what our small and medium businesses have to offer right alongside the exhibits set up by the bigger corporations, the commercial and industrial enterprises, the government agencies and the non-profit organisations.
I am very happy to see so many participants taking part in this year’s extravaganza.”
The festival not only survived the economic doldrums, it got bigger and better. “So I want to congratulate the Copper Festival Committee, under the leadership of chairperson Julius Gaeseb, as well as the Tsumeb Municipality, for continuing on with this very important event in the face of adversity.
Together they kept their eye on the vision and worked to make things happen in spite of a shortage of funds and other resources” he said. When Dundee Precious Metals bought the Tsumeb Smelter three years ago, the company realized the importance of being involved in the Tsumeb community to gain the social license necessary for continuing operations well into the future.
Dundee Precious Metals immediately agreed to continue supporting the Copper Festival as it is an ideal opportunity to inform the inhabitants of Tsumeb about the company’s activities at the smelter.