Orion Minerals has secured a A$22 million convertible loan facility from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to fund early mining works and key pre-development activities at the Prieska copper-zinc project in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
“The combined pre-development funding being provided by the IDC and our other strategic funding partner, Triple Flag, now totals over ZAR350 million (about A$32 million),” said company chief executive officer Errol Smart.
“This will allow dewatering to commence at 500 cubic metres per hour from the Prieska underground mine workings.”
He said it will also provide funding for the company to carry out demonstration trial mining on the more than 105 crown pillars and selected remnant pillars available above the current water level.
Smart said the trial mining phase and revised bankable feasibility study are expected to be completed in mid-2023, allowing project financing to proceed to supplement the $80 million Triple Flag stream financing secured last May.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
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