Name of the Project
Okiep Copper Project (OCP).

Location
Northern Cape, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
New Okiep Mining Company comprises Orion Minerals (56.25%) and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, or IDC (43.75%).

Project Description
The OCP ground holdings of 641 km² covers the majority of the area where a total of 105-million tonnes is reported to have been mined in the district over the past 100 years.

A scoping study completed in May 2021 proposed a proof-of-concept-scale copper mining operation at the brownfield OCP, and confirmed that the project’s deposits have the potential to be mined at low cost using openpit and underground mining methods.

The outcome of the scoping study, based on five initial deposits (Flat Mines), supports the economic merit of developing a foundation-phase mining operation, while Orion conducts the required work and engineering studies to evaluate the potential to re-establish mining operations.

The life-of-mine for the proof-of-concept foundation phase is modelled for 12 years, during which concurrent exploration and mine expansion scenarios will be planned and potentially implemented.

The proposed foundation-scale mining operations could run at a design processing plant throughput of 780 000 t/y, resulting in 9 000 t/y of copper sold in marketable concentrates. This could potentially supplement the 23 000 t/y of copper production planned from Orion’s flagship Prieska copper zinc mine (PCZM).

Only mineral resources from the Flat Mines area of the greater Okiep Copper Complex are incorporated in the foundation-phase plan, leaving significant potential for future expansion scenarios to be considered.

Underground and surface mining methods will be used in conjunction with mineral processing using conventional froth-flotation concentration to produce the copper concentrates for export.

The proof-of-concept phase of the proposed operation targets the development of only those Okiep copper deposits for which Orion has verified and reported mineral resources during the early phase of the due diligence period. The milled production target comprises measured mineral resources of 33%, indicated mineral resources of 46% and inferred mineral resources of 21%.

Potential Job Creation
About 750 jobs are expected to be created.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The scoping study for the project indicated a pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of R1.9-billion and an internal rate of return of 44%, with a payback from first production of 3.25 years.

Capital Expenditure
Peak funding is estimated at R643-million in 2021 terms.

Planned Start/End Date
First production is possible within 16 months from the start of construction.

Latest Developments
Orion Minerals has reported robust assay results from the confirmation diamond drilling programme in the Flat Mines area at the OCP. The latest results build on initial findings reported in April and June, including a notable intersection of 49.34 m at 5.05% copper at Flat Mine East (FME), among other high-grade intersections.

"Following our success in confirming the potential for high-grade copper mineralisation at FME over the past month, the first assay results from Flat Mine South (FMS), located about 3 km to the south-west of FME, have delivered further outstanding copper intercepts,” Orion MD Errol Smart said on July 9.

These results show that the Flat Mines complex contains very high-grade copper sulphide mineralisation contained within wider zones of moderate-grade intrusive.

"We are encouraged by the potential to rapidly add high-grade tonnes from near-surface bodies, such as at Flat Mine Nababeep, and also down-dip and along the trend of the blocks being included in the current mine plan,” he adds.

The results from the first two of four planned holes at FMS have confirmed historical drilling information from Newmont and Gold Fields in the 1980s and 1990s respectively, used in the mineral resource update, which reported 9.4-million tonnes at 1.3% copper for the Flat Mines, including 3.4-million tonnes at 1.4% copper at FMS.

Orion’s initial bankable feasibility study that is nearing completion has focused only on immediately available Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant mineral resources from Flat Mine North, FME and FMS. However, the potential to expand scale and extend the mine life lies at the core of Orion’s having invested in the Okiep district.

"Our aspirational target is to restore our Okiep properties to their historic production levels of 20 000 t/y to 50 000 t/y of copper production, which previous owners maintained for over five decades. Our ongoing drilling results underscore this potential,” Smart has noted.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
ABS Africa; Falcon and Hume Attorneys Inc; ALS Chemex (core sample analysis); Discovery Drilling; Rados; Geolabs and Sound Mining.

Contact Details for Project Information
Orion Minerals, tel +27 11 880 3159 or email info@orionminerals.com.au.