• Pages
  • Editions
01 Cover
02 Welcome Letter / Sections
03 Index & Interview Directory
04 Section 1: Introduction
05 The Road to Recovery
06 ABSA Group Interview
07 PwC Interview
08 Regional Trends
09 Sustainability & ESG Gaining Momentum
10 SRK Consulting Interview
11 Nafasi Water & ZN Geo Services Interviews
12 Section 2: Production, Development and Exploration
13 Precious Metals
14 Gold Fields Interview
15 Harmony & Pan African Resources Interviews
16 Base and Energy Metals
17 Lepidico Interview
18 Trevali Mining Interview
19 Orion Minerals Interview
20 Vedanta Zinc International Interview
21 Kumba Iron Ore Interview
22 Diamonds
23 Lucara Diamond Interview
24 Debswana Interview
25 Section 3: South Africa
26 South Africa
27 Ministry of Mineral Resouces and Energy SA Interview
28 Minerals Council SA Interview
29 Seriti & Exxaro Resources Interviews
30 NSDV & ENSafrica Interviews
31 Insights on South African Mining Industry's Health
32 Section 4: Namibia
33 Namibia
34 Chamber of Mines Namibia Interview
35 RMB & Standard Bank Namibia Interviews
36 Walvis Bay Salt Holdings Interview
37 Insights on Namibia as a Mining Investment Destination
38 Section 5: Equipment and Services
39 The Journey to Modern Mining
40 Murray & Roberts Interview
41 Kal Tire Interview
42 Eazi Access Interview
43 METC Engineering Interview
44 Insights on Digital Mining Revolution in Africa
45 MEMSA Interview
46 Fabchem Mining Interview
47 Insights from Local Manufacturers
48 Energy
49 juwi Interview
50 Engie Impact & Vivo Energy Interviews
51 Howden Interview
52 Section 6: Sponsored Company Profiles
53 Trevali Company Profile
54 Murray & Roberts Company Profile
55 Concluding Remarks
56 Credits

Errol Smart, Managing Director & CEO,

ORION MINERALS

"Orion Minerals has the vision to grow into a sustainable mid-tier, green metal producer in the near future."

Can you highlight some of Orion Minerals’ achievements since 2019?

In May 2020, Orion Minerals released an updated BFS for the Prieska project with important optimisations. Compared to our 2019 BFS, there was a significant improvement in the cash flows and NPVs of the business, and the project is even more financially compelling. The mine is now forecast to deliver AUD1.6 billion of pre-tax free-cash-flow over 12 years and a pre-tax Net Present Value of AUD779 million (at an 8% discount rate), with the initial 12-year LOM plan delivering an impressive 47% all-in-sustaining margin, underpinned by a robust mine plan delivering more payable metal in differentiated high quality copper and zinc concentrates.

By October 2020, Prieska was fully permitted and construction-ready. Since then, we have been working on the financing – which Covid is frustrating to some extent. However, we are well underway and speaking to a number of debt, equity and offtake related finance institutions. Our objective is to finish financing by Q3 2021 and be in construction by year-end.

We also continued exploration work on the belt north of Prieska, with excellent outcomes. In April 2021, we drilled the highest-grade intersection that has ever been drilled at our Jacomynspan nickel project, 65 km north of Prieska. We also discovered an interesting second VMS hub at the Boksputs copper-gold project 100 km north of the Prieska project.

Orion Minerals was recently awarded the Emerging ESG Leader for junior miners in Africa award by the Australia Africa Mining Exploration Group – acknowledging the work we have done so far, before even starting development and production. The company has put significant effort into including our stakeholders in the business so that our host community become shareholders, suppliers and employees.

Orion Minerals has the vision to grow into a sustainable mid-tier, green metal producer in the near future.

What renewable energy sources are you incorporating at Prieska?

Orion Minerals is incorporating a bespoke solar and wind energy plant into the project. We already have 175 MW of solar power feeding our mine substation and 250 MW of wind power will be commissioned over the next three months. By the end of 2021, we will have over 300 MW of renewable energy feeding into our mine substation and then into the national grid.

How is Orion Minerals creating value for investors at the Okiep copper complex (OCP)?

We have a strong team in South Africa and realized that our strategic positioning could be expanded to increase shareholder value. Like Prieska, the Okiep project had significant data available, solid infrastructure in place, and similar mining methods and processing could be utilized. The Carolusberg – Koperberg complex is situated 20 km southeast of the Flat Mine complex that hosts the current OCP mineral resources base of 11.5 million mt at 1.4% Cu for 159,000 mt of contained copper.

We have not yet acquired the asset and are five months into due diligence, but we have defined high priority drill targets. A final decision will be made in July 2021. We have completed a scoping study that shows that we can recover orders of magnitude on our investment cost from a small-scale project. Owned by major mining companies, Okiep used to produce approximately 40,000 mt/y of copper for many decades. With the increase in metal prices, the mineral resources available, and mining infrastructure already in place, the Okiep project is one with great potential.

By combining the Prieska project, producing approximately 22,000 mt/y copper, and the Okiep project, Orion Minerals is on a path to producing more than 50 000 mt/y.

Can you elaborate on the regulatory framework for mining in South Africa?

South Africa has a workable mining charter, particularly for newcomers like Orion Minerals that structure their business with the expectation of having to meet procurement obligations.

The South African mining industry has been in decline, however, it is witnessing changes given the recovery in commodity prices. The country is highly prospective, with many projects of quality and scale that can be readily brought back into production, and pre-developed ore bodies which can be further exploited. Greenfield exploration must restart and take advantage of modern exploration tools in this premier mineral region.

Next:

Interview: Vedanta Zinc International