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 (LoM) 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 been granted two high-priority prospecting rights over the greater Flat Mines Area surrounding the Flat Mines mining right. 

They also contain some of the company’s highest-priority greenfield exploration targets in the district, where its 2021 SkyTEM heliborne electromagnetic survey revealed strong conductors on the prospecting rights and straddling the boundary with Orion’s Flat Mines mining right. 

“We are immediately mobilising ground geophysics crews and deploying drilling rigs to test some of the targets that we have not been able to access until now,” MD Errol Smart has said.

This marks another major milestone in progressing the OCP.

The newly granted prospecting rights encircle the Flat Mines mining right, where Orion is finalising a bankable feasibility study (BFS) that includes the proposed establishment of a central concentrator plant and tailings storage facility (TSF) that will replace the historical facilities. The BFS is scheduled for completion by year-end. 

The rights contain existing Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant mineral resources of 1.5-million tonnes at 1.3% copper, with near-term potential for inclusion into the Flat Mines LoM plan.

Orion is yet to do confirmation drilling on several deposits, which were subjected to high-density drilling by previous owners Gold Fields and Newmont, before estimating Jorc mineral resources.

Smart has said that these prospects can be considered advanced-stage projects that have near-term potential to add feed to Orion’s planned Flat Mines Central concentrator.

“Importantly, the new central plant – together with modern improvements in processing technology – such as the application of X-ray fluorescence ore sorting – present a compelling case for . . . expansion and extension of the LoM plan for Flat Mines and . . . unlocking the potential of some of the known deposits where internal waste dilution was problematic,” Smart has added.

Meanwhile, Orion Minerals has been granted an integrated water-use licence (IWUL) for the Flat Mines project, with the project now fully permitted to proceed to mine development. The IWUL, valid for 20 years, also includes approval of a TSF to be built on a site near the proposed new processing plant.

The granting of the IWUL is a crucial component of the BFS, as it is a critical-path permitting requirement for the start of construction and mining.

The IWUL follows the receipt of approval by the Nama Khoi local municipality for rezoning to allow for mining activities of the relevant area of the mining right, in accordance with the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (Spluma).

With the grant of the IWUL and the Spluma approval in place, the Flat Mines project is now fully permitted to proceed to construction, following completion of the BFS and the subsequent securing of project funding.

The water-use activities applied for include the abstraction of water from various sources to use in operations and to dispose of waste rock and tailings responsibly. It also includes any activity that may impact on surface or underground water resources.

The water uses authorised extend to numerous crossings of water courses by roads and power lines, as well as stormwater diversion and water management infrastructure.
Orion points out that, in the baseline surface water study, the water in the Nababeep stream was found to be polluted by effluent discharged from the Nababeep municipal wastewater works (NWW). Orion has committed to assist the Nama Khoi municipality to upgrade and manage the NWW operations to ensure that the quality of the discharged water meets the required standards.

The Flat Mines project will use mainly recycled water and only limited volumes of groundwater sources. It will also not further burden the current potable water supply to the district, sourced from the Orange river, as this supply is under severe pressure.

The company chose to build a TSF on an area covered by prior mining operations for the evaporation of excess process water (paddies). Groundwater studies by Orion indicated that groundwater quality downstream of the proposed TSF site is already impacted on by these paddies.

Following the construction and start of TSF operations, Orion will remediate the existing impacts, resulting in a steady overall improvement in groundwater quality downstream of the TSF.

Flat Mines operations are expected to result in a net improvement of surface and groundwater quality in the mining area and to demonstrate the possible benefits of mining for remote communities and the environment, Orion has stated.

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.