Orion is finalising the bankable feasibility study for the Flat Mines Area at the Okiep Copper Project (OCP) in South Africa with ongoing review by independent experts appointed by the debt advisor.
It said the bankable feasibility study is on track for completion in the December 2024 quarter. Land access negotiations were concluded in January, resulting in Orion acquiring 12,156 ha of key surface rights, including the intended initial mining area at Flat Mines.
This, it said, provided the company with access to previously inaccessible sites to undertake a validation drilling programme, to verify the historical data that underpinned the mineral resource estimates at the Flat Mines East, North and South deposits and to further de-risk the study.
Orion said the mineral resource for the Flat Mines Area of OCP increased to 12 million tonnes at 1.4% Cu for 160,000 tonnes of contained copper.
A zone of spectacular high-grade copper mineralisation previously reported by Goldfields was also confirmed at Flat Mine East, with an intersection of 49.35 m at 5.05% Cu.
It said the integrated water usage right for the Okiep Mine was granted in July 2024, making the Okiep Mine the second fully permitted copper mine development project in Orion’s asset portfolio.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief, Rough&Polished
