Orion Signs Definitive Agreement For R250m Convertible Loan To Advance Development Of The Prieska Copper-Zinc Mine
Orion Signs Definitive Agreement For R250m Convertible Loan To Advance Development Of The Prieska Copper-Zinc Mine. Orion Minerals Limited is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement with the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Limited (IDC) for a ZAR250million (~A$21 million) senior secured convertible loan facility to fund early mining works andkey pre-development activities at the Prieska Copper-Zinc Project (Prieska Project), located in the Northern Cape region of South Africa.
Orion’s Managing Director and CEO, Errol Smart, commented: “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 overZAR371 million (~A$31 million). This will provide funding for Orion to carry out demonstration trial mining and allow dewatering 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. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank our development partners and our dedicated team fortheir hard work and tenacity.”
The proceeds of the Convertible Loan, along with the proceeds from the Triple Flag funding arrangement, will support the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) on the previously articulated Early Production Plan at the Prieska Project, while also allowing the company to commence dewatering of the existing underground mine – a critical workstream required for the broader long-term development of the project.
IDC’s Senior Project Developer, Nico van Aardt, commented: “The Prieska Copper-Zinc Mine represents an important, long-life base metals asset in South Africa that promisesto deliver high socio-economic returns in the Northern Cape. We are delighted to be on board as adevelopment funding partner, unlocking this high impact project.”
