ORION Minerals today set down its definitive feasibility study for construction of a brownfields copper mine in the Northern Cape producing 22,000 tons of the red metal and 65,000 tons of zinc a year at a capital cost of R7.59bn (A$607m).
The Prieska Copper Zinc Mine (PCZM) would produce its first metal 13 months after the start of construction. Funding for the project, which will consist of debt, equity and offtake arrangements would begin imminently, the company said in the feasibility study.
Shares in the company were 5.5% weaker on the Australian Securities Exchange where the results of the definitive feasibility study was first announced.
PCZM has been on Orion’s books for nearly a decade. A decision in 2020 to rethink its scope resulted in today’s two-phase plan starting with a short life near surface project mining sulphide ore before Orion proceeds to a ‘deeps’ section. The project’s total life of mine was about 13.2 years with potential to extend.
A drawback of mining the sulphides is that it incurs the cost of separate processing facilities. However, Errol Smart, MD of Orion Resources said the capital intensity of the project’s nameplate production was below $9,200 per equivalent ton.
Speaking to Miningmx today, Smart said the capital intensity of the project was “top drawer. You see other projects talking of $12,000/t so what we’ve got, with a fully permitted project in the lowest cost quarter is top order,” he said. The study estimates an all-in sustaining cost of $4,550/t of copper equivalent metal sold.
The copper price has surged in recent weeks. The London copper price hit a record of almost $11,000 in May 2024. After falling back late last year, it has risen in 2025 and was trading at about $10,000 on Tuesday (March 25), said the Financial Times.
“I think we’ll see higher than $12,000,” said Kostas Bintas, global head of metals and minerals at Swiss trading house Mercuria in an article by the newspaper. The copper market was “experiencing tightness”, he added.
Traders have rushed to import copper into the US ahead of the potential imposition of tariffs on the metal following an investigation that Trump has instigated into “the threat to national security from imports of copper”, said the Financial Times.
Including the development of the Flat Mines Project at Okiep Copper Project, a second development underway by Orion with a definitive feasibility study imminent, the company is set to produce 30,000 tons of copper annually.
“With these studies now complete, our focus turns to finalising our project financing strategy, which we expect will comprise a combination of debt, equity and offtake related funding,” said Smart.
