PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper developer Orion Minerals has reported a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant resource of 8.9-million tonnes containing some 122 000 t of copper at the Okiep copper complex, in South Africa.

The ASX-listed miner noted that the mineral resource estimate included a measured resource of 3.5-million tonnes and an indicated resource of five-million tonnes, as well as an inferred resource of 401 000 t.

“This maiden Jorc-compliant mineral resource for our recently announced South African Tantalum Mining (SAFTA) transaction demonstrates the enormous value locked up in the high quality data contained in the O’okiep Copper Company archives,” said Orion MD and CEO Errol Smart.

“We intend to unlock this value in the months ahead through a combination of further due diligence work on the historical database, combined with modern exploration aimed at making new discoveries, bearing in mind that this district has seen virtually no exploration in decades, with no modern, high-powered airborne geophysics applied.”

Orion earlier this month announced an exclusive option to acquire the Okiep Copper Complex from SAFTA for A$7.5-million.

Smart said on Wednesday that the shallow depth of the initial mineral resource, and the fact that it was already accessed by decline development and had stopes prepared for extraction, was positive and boded well for early mine development potential.

“While we are now able to validate and state a maiden Jorc mineral resource at Flat Mines, several additional mineralised bodies have been drilled in close proximity and will require further evaluation before mineral resource estimation can be undertaken,” Smart said.

“We have identified exciting potential to delineate higher-grade mineralisation down-dip, where the mineralised intrusive crosses key meta-sedimentary units, particularly in areas where this is supported by significant electro magnetic targets located down-dip and along trend in the intrusive.

“We anticipate that these electro magnetic targets will have a much higher sulphide content with likely higher copper grades compared with the mineral resources which has a moderate to weak electro magnetic response in the drone survey.”

Smart said that Orion would now evaluate the feasibility studies completed by SAFTA that were used to support a mining works programme and mining right application, and would work with the seller to progress additional prospecting right applications that have been lodged, to allow drill testing of targets while the grant of a mining right is awaited.