JSE- and ASX-listed Orion Minerals has been granted two high-priority prospecting rights over the greater Flat Mines Area surrounding the Flat Mines mining right, in the Northern Cape.

This marks another major milestone in progressing its Okiep copper project.

The newly granted prospecting rights encircle the Flat Mines mining right, where Orion is finalising a bankable feasibility study (BFS) that includes the proposed establishment of a central concentrator plant.

The new prospecting rights contain existing Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant mineral resources of 1.5-million tonnes at 1.3% copper with near-term potential for inclusion into the Flat Mines life-of-mine (LoM) plan.

Several deposits with high-density drilling by previous owners Gold Fields and Newmont await confirmation drilling by Orion before estimating Jorc mineral resources.

“We are thrilled to have secured the grant of these prospecting rights following a three-year administrative process. Orion’s recent purchase of surface rights over some of the area covering these prospecting rights finally resolved the impasse for surface access and environmental approvals.

“This allows Orion to finally access this highly prospective ground, where we have already used high-quality historical Gold Fields and Newmont drill data to estimate and declare Jorc-compliant mineral resources,” MD Errol Smart says.

“Several additional deposits on the prospecting rights that were also drilled by the previous owners require minor in-fill drilling before resource estimation can be completed to Jorc compliance. These prospects can be considered advanced-stage projects that have near-term potential to add feed to our planned Flat Mines Central concentrator,” he adds.

All of the ore from deposits historically mined in the greater Flat Mines Area was trucked to a central concentrator located just south of where Orion intends to build its new central concentrator.

“Our BFS for Flat Mines is nearing completion and includes the planned construction of a new modern concentrator plant and tailings storage facility that will replace the historical facilities.

“Importantly, the new central plant – together with modern improvements in processing technology such as the application of X-ray fluorescence ore sorting – present a compelling case for both expansion and extension of the LoM plan for Flat Mines and to unlock the potential of some of the known deposits where internal waste dilution was problematic,” Smart avers.

He adds that these prospecting rights also contain some of the company’s highest priority greenfield exploration targets in the district, where its 2021 SkyTEM heliborne electromagnetic survey revealed strong conductors both on the prospecting rights and straddling the boundary with Orion’s Flat Mines mining right.

“We are immediately mobilising ground geophysics crews and deploying drilling rigs to test some of the targets that we have not been able to access until now,” Smart says.