Orion Minerals Ltd (ASX:ORN, JSE:ORN) is expanding its footprint in South Africa after securing five new copper ore and tungsten ore areas to its existing tenement portfolio at the Okiep Copper Project in the Northern Cape Province.
The new areas include the highly prospective Nigramoep Mine, with a historical production of seven million tonnes at 2% copper.
Consequently, Orion will now increase its tenement holding west, south and east of the central Southern African Tantalum Mining Ltd mining right area by about 30,000 hectares.
Looking ahead, the grant of these additional areas opens up several opportunities for the company, as it hunts for potential copper and associated minerals to supplement the Flat Mines Project, while also expanding its control over a number of high-priority targets including the Nigramoep Mine.
Major step forward
Orion managing director and CEO Errol Smart said: “Our vision for the acquisition of mineral rights and the consolidation of the majority of the most prospective areas of the historic O’okiep Copper Company’s (OCC) mineral holdings has taken a major step forward, with the recent granting of mineral rights, some of which have been under application for several years.
“When Orion decided to invest in the Okiep Copper District in 2021, we recognised that the key driver for success in achieving future large-scale production would be reconsolidating the then fragmented mineral rights of the district.
“History shows that Newmont, and later Goldfields, had succeeded in producing more than 15,000tpa of copper for 50 years from 1948 from a cluster of mines operating in the district.
“Combined production peaked at over 40,000 tonnes per annum of copper in 1965.
“OCC had also conducted intense exploration for many decades and Orion has benefited from acquiring all the extensive exploration records for our mineral right areas.
Virgin targets
“This database includes detailed mapping and hundreds of thousands of metres of drilling which Orion has been systematically digitising to use alongside state-of-the-art, modern airborne exploration conducted by Orion to identify both drilled/known mineralisation and virgin targets which now form the focus of our exploration and feasibility studies.
“The ability to operate several individual mines within a 20-kilometre radius under a central management hub brings economies of scale for operations and also lends flexibility with multiple production sites, each accessible via a well-established network of roads.
“As brownfields sites – with the benefit of existing primary infrastructure and services including grid power, water and decline roadways to access the drilled mineralisation remaining from an era of mining with very low metal prices – the barriers are substantially lowered for redevelopment.
Grey-shaded areas showing three new S102 areas; orange-shaded areas showing three newly granted prospecting rights,
New tenements
The newly granted section 102 mineral rights add 15,400 hectares, to Orion’s granted tenements.
The prospecting right is in the process of being ceded from Nababeep Copper Company and registered in the name of Orion’s subsidiary, New Okiep Exploration Company Ltd.
In addition to the S102 rights, three new prospecting rights expanding the company’s tenement holdings by 14,600 hectares.
This gives Orion the exclusive right to prospect in those areas for copper ore, tungsten ore, gold ore and silver ore, among other commodities.
Forward plan
Smart adds: “With bankable feasibility studies (BFS) now completed for the establishment of a new mill and tailings site at the central Flat Mines, we expect the independent expert sign-off of the BFS in the coming months.
“This is expected to coincide with the granting of a water use license and environmental approval for a new tailings deposition facility, designed to international best practice standards, that will be the cornerstone for long-term, sustainable mining to be re-established in the district.
“Orion’s vision of re-establishing production to ultimately reach historic levels on its properties is being reinforced as we ‘mine’ the extensive database acquired and consolidate mineral rights in the district.”
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