Three community conservancies in north-western Namibia - Doro! Nawas, Sorris Sorris and Uibasen Twyfelfontein - reignited their opposition to mining inside the Red Mountain Joint Management Area after the discovery of a freshly poached black rhino. The incident has intensified long-standing tensions between conservation and mining interests in one of Namibia's most ecologically fragile and economically contested regions. The area lies in the Kunene Region's arid, mountainous terrain - part of Namibia's internationally acclaimed community-based conservation network, where local communities co-manage wildlife areas with the ministry of environment, forestry and tourism. The zone, jointly administered by the three conservancies, supports desert-adapted black rhinos, elephants and other species and draws eco-tourism revenue that sustains hundreds of rural households. But the same landscape is now targeted for tin and base-metal extraction. Since 2024, government-issued claims and mineral exploration have expanded across Kunene, triggering protests and legal challenges from the conservancies. In June 2025, Andrada Mining Limited entered into an ore-supply and profit-share agreement with Goantagab Mining, a Namibian-owned company whose claims fall within the Red Mountain Joint Management Area. The agreement allows Andrada to source up to 240 000 tonnes per year of high-grade tin ore, averaging about 1.5 % tin, to supplement feedstock for its processing plant in Erongo Region.