THE MINING YEARBOOK 2021
FROM DESERT DUST, SOUTHERN AFRICA IS REDISCOVERING ITS MOJO FOR COPPER BY BRENDAN RYAN
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opper mining in the Northern Cape shut down in the early 2000s when the former Gold Fields of South Africa finally closed the Okiep mine. It’s back with a vengeance, however, with Orion Minerals CEO Errol Smart declaring the region to be “a major mining province” and “a dripping roast”. Australia and JSE-listed Orion are carrying out extensive exploration work in the region, looking at reopening the former Prieska and Okiep Copper Mines. Orion raised A$25m (R294m) through issuing equity that will fund the company through to an investment decision on Prieska, which is scoped to produce 20,000 tons of copper and 70,000t of zinc annually. Smart’s assessment is backed up by Jan Nelson, CEO of soon-to-be-listed Big Tree Copper, which started production as a smallscale copper project treating dump material in the Okiep region in October last year. That operation is being expanded with the construction of a full-blown SX-EW recovery plant that is due to start operations in July and reach a steady-state production level of 160t/month of copper cathode within three months. Nelson - who is well-known in South African mining circles from his time running gold junior Pan African Resources commented: “We are offering South African investors the chance to buy into a pure copper play, which will come into production immediately. We will be cash flow positive from month two and we have no debt.” He added: “That’s one of the big differences between us and Orion because they are at least two years from starting
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