Orion MD and CEO Errol Smart
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper developer Orion Minerals has been granted environmental authorisation (EA) for mining the Vardocube resource at its Prieska copper/zinc project, in the Northern Cape.
The company told shareholders on Monday that the grant of the EA for the Vardocube resource, which covers the south-eastern strike extension of the Prieska orebody, followed the 2019 grant of a mining right at Prieska.
The EA also represented a major step towards the development of the Prieska project, and cleared the way for construction to start, following project financing.
“With the grant of the EA and mining right for the bulk of the Prieska mineral resource secured in August last year, the grant of the Vardocube EA represents the final step towards securing the mining right covering the south-eastern extension of the deposit,” said Orion MD and CEO Errol Smart.
“The award of this important authorisation is testament to both the commitment of the Orion leadership team to deliver this project and to the support of the South African authorities in facilitating new investment in a modernised mining sector.”
Optimisation studies on the Prieska project are currently being incorporated into updated operating plans to determine a final business case to support an updated bankable feasibility study, due for completion early in the second quarter.
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.