Orion Minerals Ltd (ASX:ORN, JSE:ORN) has received final assays from a confirmation diamond drilling program in the Flat Mines area of its Okiep Copper Project in the Northern Cape, South Africa, with the results confirming the high quality of the large historical drilling database Orion inherited from Newmont and Goldfields.
Assay results from Flat Mine North and the last two confirmation diamond drill holes at Flat Mine South include intersections of 14.80 metres at 2.58% copper within 25 metres at 1.92% in OFMSD079 and 36.3 metres at 1.11% copper in OFMND243.
Confirmation drilling within the Flat Mines area provides important final input to complete the bankable feasibility study (BFS) for the Okiep early production plan, which Orion says is on track for delivery in the coming weeks.
Drilling "confirms best expectations"
Orion managing director and CEO Errol Smart said: “The drilling program we have now completed confirms our best expectations regarding the quality and reliability of the historical drilling data from the Okiep Copper Project (OCP).
“Previous owners Newmont and Goldfields – who milled more than 77 million tonnes of high-quality sulphide copper ore from our current prospecting and mining rights – were reliant on the high-quality work undertaken by their highly acclaimed geology department and laboratories.
“In its time, the Okiep laboratory was the go-to laboratory for assay checking and quality control for the entire Southern African region. The geology department included several well-respected and highly-rated geoscientists who were leaders in their field of expertise at that time.
“While this specific drill program was performed to provide absolute assurance to our external technical experts, we were always certain of the quality of the data that we purchased in 2021.
“We have already digitised 625,000 metres of downhole data from 5,026 drill holes that intersected dozens of mineralised bodies within the Mining and Prospecting Right areas we have secured.
“Importantly, now that the Flat Mines Project is fully permitted for mining and that we have secured all the surrounding prospecting rights, this high-quality drilling data is expected to provide a pathway for Orion to fast-track the expansion of the initial production profile and mine life outlined in our initial BFS, which is now just weeks away from completion.
“We are tremendously excited about the future of the OCP, which is proving itself to be a world-class, build-ready copper mine.”
Key in early production
Intersections achieved to date support geological and grade distribution interpretations that were incorporated in the mineral resource estimation for the Okiep Project.
Orion expects these prospects — Flat Mine North and Flat Mine South — to form a key part of its early production plan for the Okiep Copper Project. Drilling is continuing at Flat Mine South to test the down-dip extension of high-grade mineralisation in a previously untested area.
Orion also reports that confirmatory drilling has been completed at Flat Mine Nababeep, where an inferred mineral resource of 1 million tonnes at 1.4% copper was reported in March 2021. Latest assays include intersections of:
- 20.69 metres at 1.82% copper within 45.69 metres at 1.26% (OFMD164);
- 7.8 metres at 5.08% copper (OFMD167); and
- 21 metres at 1.83% copper (OFMD169).
Historical and Orion drill holes, interpreted mineralisation envelopes and extent of the Mining Right.
Orion says geophysical orientation surveys — including magnetics, gravity and electrical methods — are now being conducted over the deposits in the Flat Mines Area along with ground geophysical surveys to confirm drill targets.
Areas to be covered include historical ground geophysical anomalies and anomalies generated from the 2021 SkyTEM™ survey that have been prioritised on current geological understanding.
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