SOUTH AFRICA – Orion Minerals has reported another encouraging set of drilling results from its Okiep Copper Project in South Africa’s Northern Cape, with the latest intercept confirming the continuity of high-grade copper mineralisation at the Flat Mine East prospect.
The new results form part of the company’s ongoing resource optimisation drilling programme, which is aimed at expanding mineral resources and improving geological confidence as Orion advances plans to redevelop one of South Africa’s historic copper districts.
The second drill hole completed during the current campaign intersected the OFMED158 target, confirming the down-dip continuation of mineralisation previously identified in the OFMED157 drill hole. According to Orion, the latest assays strengthen the geological model by confirming the continuity of mineralised mafic units at depth.
The findings build on the success of the 2024 drilling programme, which returned several high-grade copper intersections, including an intercept of 3.96 metres grading 4.64% copper.
Orion Minerals Chief Executive Officer Tony Lennox said the latest results further enhance the growth potential of the Flat Mine East deposit.
“These outstanding new high-grade drilling results further strengthen the potential upside at Flat Mine East. The latest intersection extends the recently identified high-grade copper zone down-dip and confirms that the mineralised system remains open at depth,” Lennox said.
He added that the continuity of the high-grade mineralisation supports extending the geological model and could contribute to future resource growth beyond the current mineral resource estimate.
The company plans to continue follow-up drilling, using data from both the drilling campaign and an ongoing geophysical survey to refine future exploration targets across the broader Flat Mine East area.
The Okiep Copper Project covers approximately 703 square kilometres, encompassing much of the historic Okiep copper mining district. More than 105 million tonnes of ore have been mined from the district over the past century, with approximately 77 million tonnes extracted from areas now covered by Orion’s prospecting and mining rights.
Beyond exploration, Orion is also progressing metallurgical testwork at the Flat Mines South deposit. The programme is designed to validate the proposed processing flowsheet after earlier metallurgical studies focused primarily on the Flat Mines North and Flat Mines East deposits.
Meanwhile, infrastructure development continues at Flat Mines North, where dewatering activities have commenced following the completion of a new wastewater dam, marking another milestone towards future mining operations.
Orion is also advancing development planning at its Prieska Copper-Zinc Project in the Northern Cape. During the latest quarter, the company completed value engineering, operational readiness planning and workforce preparations as it moves toward project execution.
With continued drilling success, infrastructure upgrades and project development activities progressing simultaneously, Orion Minerals is positioning the Okiep Copper Project as a key contributor to South Africa’s future copper production.
