ASX-listed Orion Minerals has been granted a Mining Right over the key Flat Mines area, that lies at the core of the Okiep Copper Project (OCP). The Mining Right granted, to Southern African Tantalum Mining (SAFTA) under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, is valid for an initial period of 15 years and can be renewed on application for a further period which may not exceed 30 years.
Orion’s CEO, Errol Smart, commented: “The grant of the SAFTA mining right is a major step forward for Orion and our objective of early production of copper and other Future Facing metals, while continuing to expand our Mineral Resources and beneficiation capacity in the Northern Cape, South Africa. Our bankable feasibility study on the granted mining right area is at an advanced stage and can now be completed with access to the property for bulk sampling and final confirmation drilling purposes.”
Orion has completed a positive Scoping Study for the Flat Mines SAFTA area, which demonstrated the economic merit of developing a foundation phase mining operation at the SAFTA properties.
The Scoping Study supported a moderate scale start up mining operation on known, drilled copper deposits. Orion’s aspiration, with project partner the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is an early re-establishment of mining operations on the brownfields site, while conducting the required work and engineering studies to support the longer-term goal of achieving production at a similar scale to past owners Newmont and later Goldfields under the Okiep Copper Company.
The grant of the Mining Right follows Orion’s announcement on 2 August 2021 that it had exercised its restructured option (OCP Option) to acquire a controlling interest in the majority of the properties that form the OCP.
The OCP Option was granted to Orion by each of SAFTA, Nababeep Copper Company (NCC) and Bulletrap Copper Co (BCC). These entities hold the majority of the large, historical mines in this significant copper producing district, which has produced more than 2 mt of copper metal over a 150-year period to 2003. Orion announced on 16 September 2021, that the IDC had signalled its intention to remain a key strategic partner in the SAFTA project and work with Orion in the development of the New Okiep Mining Company (NOM), that will acquire, the assets owned by SAFTA, which is currently 43% owned by the IDC.
Shareholding in NOM will, in the future, include Orion as majority owner with 56% holding, the IDC as key strategic partner and historically disadvantaged empowerment partners in compliance with the requirements of the Mining Charter 2018.
This includes a 5% participation by each of the host community and employee trusts. The OCP is a significant growth opportunity for Orion, with the potential to become a second base metal production hub for the Company in the Northern Cape, alongside its flagship Prieska Copper-Zinc Project, located 450km east of the OCP.
Next Steps
The grant of the Mining Right represents a major step towards the development of the OCP and clears the way for final engineering studies, Mineral Resource upgrade, drilling and bulk sampling for metallurgical optimisation.
Feasibility studies upgrading the 2021 scoping feasibility study for the OCP are well advanced, with targeted completion early 2023.
