JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa’s well-endowed Northern Cape is becoming the copper gift that just keeps on giving, with yet another intercept confirming copper continuity.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Orion Minerals described the results being generated from the resource optimisation drilling programme that it is carrying out at the Okiep Copper Project Flat Mine East prospect as being a validatiion of its development strategy.

The current drilling campaign's completed second drill hole takes in the OFMED158 intersection. (Also see above graphic).

These assay results confirm the down-dip continuity previously revealed by the OFMED157 drill hole, which uplifts understanding of the structural controls to mineralised mafic units. They build on the good outcomes of the 2024 confirmation drilling programme, which highlighted the endowment of the Flat Mines area, where the latest results are exemplified by the numbers 3.96 m at 4.64% copper.

“These outstanding new high-grade drilling results from the Okiep Copper Project further strengthen the potential upside at Flat Mine East,” Orion CEO Tony Lennox explained.

“Crucially, this exciting intersection further extends the recently identified high-grade copper zone down-dip and shows that it remains open at depth. The continuity of these high-grade intercepts provides compelling support to extend the geological model and increase the size of the deposit.

“Importantly, it confirms that the mineralised system remains open and continues well beyond the current mineral resource envelope and block model. These results further reinforce the quality and growth potential of the Flat Mines area as a cornerstone of Orion’s broader Okiep development strategy and will directly inform the next phase of our resource optimisation drilling programme,” Lennox outlined in a media release to Mining Weekly on Monday, June 29.

These results provide strong support for follow-up drilling. By integrating these results with insights from an ongoing geophysical survey, Orion can further refine drill targets and enhance the potential for discovery success across the broader Flat Mine East area.

The Okiep Copper Project’s 703 km² ground holdings encompass most of the Okiep copper mining district, where 105-million tons of extraction has taken place over the past 100 years, 77-million tons of it from the project’s prospecting and mining rights area.

Current drilling offers the potential for additional mineral resources at Flat Mines, where past drilling has proven up extensions and infill potential.

Sampling has been carried out using diamond drilling procedures in sampling areas that have been selected through visual observation and handheld analyser reading.

Interestingly, metallurgical testwork is being undertaken by Maelgwyn on the Okiep Copper Project’s Flat Mines South deposit amid previous testwork having been limited to the Flat Mines North and Flat Mines East areas.

The current programme is designed to validate the performance of the proposed process flowsheet for the resources of Flat Mines South.

Dewatering of Flat Mines North has commenced following completion of the building of a new wastewater dam.

During the three months to March 31, value engineering, operational readiness and critical skills identification took place for project execution at Orion’s Prieska copper/zinc mine, also in the Northern Cape. The Prieska mine, located near Copperton, is on a major volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit.

A definitive feasibility study has outlined an accelerated development strategy. This is based on an initial “Uppers” mining operation at a rate of 20 000 t a month as well as dewatering in preparation for the “Deeps” mining phase at a production rate of 200 000 t a month.