PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper developer Orion Minerals has struck an agreement with South African institutional investor Anglo American sefa Mining Fund (AASMF) to extend the term of its R14.25-million loan facility from the end of July 2020 until the end of April 2021.
The original loan agreement was entered into in 2015 to fund further exploration and development of the Prieska copper/zinc project, in South Africa.
At the end of June this year, the balance of the loan facility amounted to R19-million, which included interest repayments.
Orion in March this year announced that it would postpone debt financing activities to develop the Prieska project, until global macroeconomic and market conditions stabilise.
The A$378-million project is currently expected to produce at a rate of 2.4-million tonnes a year, producing 189 000 t of copper and 580 000 t of zinc in its ten-year foundation phase.