Orion Minerals has entered into an agreement with the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) for R250 million in funding for early mining works at the Prieska Copper-Zinc project, in the Northern Cape.
In a statement, the group said the fund is a secured convertible loan facility to finance early mining works and key pre-development activities at the Prieska Copper-Zinc project.
Orion MD and CEO Errol Smart said: “This is a hugely exciting time for Orion, with the company now entering the final stages of our early development studies and preparing for the imminent transition to development.
“The combined pre-development funding being provided by Triple Flag and the IDC for Prieska now totals over R371m. This will provide funding for Orion to carry out demonstration trial mining and allow de-watering to commence from underground mine workings. Both of these work streams are critical to our Early Works BFS, which we expect to complete by mid-2023, and mark the official start of development at PCZM.”
IDC’s Senior Project Developer said: “The Prieska Copper-Zinc Mine represents an important, long-life base metals asset that promises to deliver high socio-economic returns in the Northern Cape. We are delighted to be on board as a development funding partner, unlocking this high-impact project.”
BUSINESS REPORT