Australian junior miner Orion Minerals, which is accelerating the development of its Prieska copper/zinc project, in South Africa’s Northern Cape, has received the inaugural Australian-Africa Minerals & Energy Group (Aameg) environment, social and governance (ESG) leader award.
Announced at the Africa Downunder conference, in Perth, on November 4, the award sets the benchmark for Australian mining companies delivering projects that have sustainable and tangible benefits to the communities and countries in which they operate.
The Emerging ESG Leadership Award acknowledges Orion’s work in the ESG space, the relationships it has forged with its host communities and, importantly, its contribution to socioeconomic development in South Africa’s Northern Cape province.
Not only has Orion taken its flagship Prieska project from prospect to being fully permitted in record time; it has almost single-handedly put junior mining back on the South African national agenda, according to Orion’s statement.
“Through the Orion team’s efforts, junior mining has found its voice in South Africa in government, among its peers, and in the advocacy organisations that guide and represent the industry.
“We hope to inspire a new generation of emerging mining companies. By turning the traditional mining approach to ESG on its head, we have shown the value of meaningful connections and insisting that ESG is a business and moral imperative,” said Orion chairperson Denis Waddell, who accepted the award on behalf of the company.