The Okiep Copper Project (OCP) comprises the core of a premier historical copper district that produced more than 2Mt of copper over 150 years ending in 2003.
Significant resource base
Okiep hosts 12Mt grading 1.4% copper, with the Flat Mines area alone contributing 10Mt at 1.3% copper.
Historic copper district
Orion’s acquisition includes extensive historical data and existing mine infrastructure, enabling rapid restart and cost-effective development.
Development strategy
Starts with a foundation-phase mine targeting six deposits, with planned throughput of 780,000 tonnes per year that could deliver 9,000 tonnes of copper annually.
Project details
Orion signed an Option Agreement to acquire the OCP, in the form of mining and prospecting right applications, in February 2021 and immediately commenced a due diligence programme to support the proposed acquisition. As part of this work, Orion reviewed historical mineral resource estimates and completed a scoping study, which confirmed the economic merits of developing a foundation-phase mining operation based on an initial six deposits.
Based on these results, Orion exercised its option to acquire the OCP in July 2021 and is now progressing further feasibility studies for the foundation phase development, as well as conducting exploration programmes to further expand its Mineral Resource inventory.
The mineral rights held by Orion include numerous existing drilled copper deposits, including some with decline mine access and services in place.
In addition to its acquisition of the OCP, Orion has also acquired an extensive historical database of mining and exploration records from the Okiep Copper Company covering more than 60 years.
A definitive feasibility study (DFS) completed on the Flat Mines (FM) project, which is part of OCP, has confirmed the opportunity to develop a modern and fully mechanised copper mine (refer ASX/JSE release 28 March 2025).
Location and infrastructure
OCP is located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, approximately 570km north of Cape Town and 450km west of the Company’s flagship Prieska Copper Zinc Mine.
Mineral Resources
Total JORC Mineral Resources at the OCP currently stand at 11.5Mt grading 1.3% Cu for 152,000 tonnes of contained Cu. This Mineral Resource estimate covers an initial six deposits and is based on a detailed review of historical drilling data and subsequent geological modelling. Orion sees excellent potential to further expand this mineral resource base through the ongoing analysis of the OCP’s extensive historical exploration database, as well as through the Company’s own exploration programmes.
Mineral Resources for the Flat Mines Project total 10Mt at an average grade of 1.3% copper, resulting in 132kt of contained copper.
Development strategy
The OCP has delivered significant historical copper production with previous owners, Newmont and Goldfields, producing 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes of copper metal per annum over many decades. Orion believes there is a compelling opportunity to re-establish this scale of production following the completion of further drilling and feasibility work.
Only Mineral Resources from the Flat Mines area of the greater Okiep Copper Project are incorporated in the foundation-phase plan, leaving significant potential for future expansion to be considered.
The Flat Mines project has a 12-year life-of-mine (LoM) from first concentrate production, mining an estimated 65,000 tpm at steady state (780,000 tpa) of copper ore at full production, at an average LoM grade of 1.18% copper.
Underground mining is planned at four areas: the historically mined Flat Mine North (FMN) and Flat Mine Nababeep (FM-Nab) mines, and the previously unmined deposits at Flat Mine East (FME) and Flat Mine South (FMS).
FMN will be developed first using the existing decline, followed by FME using a new twin decline. FM-Nab and FMS will share a common decline.
The Flat Mines will be developed using a phased approach. Phase 1 will start with the mining of approximately 32,500 tpm of ore at an average grade of 1.04% Cu for a period of 24 months from FMN.
In Phase 2, production from FME will be combined with FMN to achieve a target of 65ktpm of ore delivered to the run-of-mine (ROM) pad.
The mining right over the Flat Mines area was granted in July 2022 and executed in December 2022.
Pre-development funding
Pre-development funding for the Okiep Copper Project has been secured through an agreement with the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), under which the IDC acquired an effective 19.37% of the New Okiep Mining Company (NOM) and Orion retaining 50.63% interest. The remaining 30% interest is held by the BEE Entrepreneur, community and employee trust component, to further the Historically Disadvantaged South Africans (HDSA) ownership objectives envisaged in the Mining Charter 2018.
The IDC funding of pre-development costs in the amount of ZAR35 million (~AUD3.1 million) has been advanced to NOM on the same terms as the pre-development funding amount of ZAR44 million (~AUD3.9 million) that Orion has already advanced to NOM.
Exploration
The OCP offers substantial exploration potential. Ongoing exploration will be a key driver of further growth by providing new mineral resources required to feed the centralised Flat Mine plant and extend the mine life.