MiningWeekly.com Audio Articles

Diversified miner Anglo American on May 6 launched a prototype of its first self-developed zero-emission hydrogen-powered mine haul truck, which was developed as part of its Future Smart Mining strategy.

The 2 MW hydrogen-battery hybrid truck, which is stationed at the Mogalakwena platinum mine, in Limpopo, in South Africa, is currently the world's largest hydrogen-powered mine haul truck. It is capable of carrying a 290 t payload and generates more power than its diesel predecessor.

A 2 700 hp diesel engine has been replaced with eight parallel fuel cells, totalling 837 kW, and a 1.2 MWh lithium-ion battery.

Anglo head of technology development, mining and sustainability Julian Soles told media delegates during the launch event that a new drive train had to be installed and integrated into the truck’s control systems.

The company, alongside multinational utility company Engie, engineering firm First Mode, clean energy fuel cell solutions provider Ballard and hydrogen storage company NPROXX, embarked on the design and development process of a zero-emission truck fleet solution in 2019, in order to meet Anglo's 2040 carbon emission goals.

Diesel emissions from Anglo’s haul truck fleet accounts for between 10% and 15% of its total Scope 1 emissions and a fleet overhaul is, therefore, an important step in the group’s pathway to carbon-neutral operations by 2040, commented Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad.

The truck had undergone building, modification and testing in the US for just over 12 months, before being transported to South Africa. It was first motion tested at Mogalakwena under real mining conditions in March.

The event marked the first hauling with hydrogen in Anglo’s 100-year history in South Africa.

Anglo aims to have eight mines down to net-zero emissions by 2030, which involves replacing its entire diesel fleet. About 80% of the group’s diesel consumption is on large trucks.

A traditional mine haul truck uses about 3 500 ℓ/d of diesel, which equates to about one-million litres a year.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who attended the launch event, said the introduction of the hydrogen-powered truck was a major leap for South Africa's hydrogen economy.

"We celebrate the first time a loading haul truck is not being powered by fossil fuels in the history of mining.

"Today's launch is not only about investment and research and development, but also commitment to a strategy and courageous leadership," he added.

Ramaphosa also reiterated South Africa's commitment to a just transition to a low-carbon economy.

THE PLANT

Along with the development of the hydrogen-powered truck, the companies built an entire “NuGen Zero Emission Haulage Solution” hydrogen ecosystem to generate and store hydrogen at the Mogalakwena mine.

“This integrated ecosystem delivers an end-to-end solution for decarbonisation haulage, providing the lowest total cost of ownership and targeting a dollars per tonne cost equivalent to diesel. Our mines will have the same operational flexibility as it currently has, not being tied to fixed infrastructure,” explained Soles.

Anglo built a 3.5 MW electrolyser on site, as well as hydrogen storage tanks with 800 kg of capacity at 500 bars of pressure. The hydrogen is not converted to a liquid at any point in the process, instead it stays in a gaseous state and is transported at a high pressure.

The company tasked Engie to develop its hydrogen ecosystem with safety at its heart, and had third-party safety experts provide an independent review to help guide safety aspects of the plant.

The hydrogen dispenser on site is capable of moving 4 kg of hydrogen a minute at 250 bars of pressure.

The NuGen hydrogen ecosystem also has a truck retrofit area, hydrogen compression and cooling area and solar photovoltaic panels that feed the mine grid. The electrolyser comprises two compressors to take the pressure up to 500 bar for hydrogen storage.

The electrolyser is based in a building to protect the machinery from dust and comes fully eq...

JSE- and NYSE-listed precious and battery metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater has reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of R13.66-billion ($898-million) for the quarter ended March 31.

This marks a 31% year-on-year decrease from the record Ebitda of R19.83-billion ($1.32-billion) reported for the first quarter of 2021.

The miner’s operating environment this year, thus far, has been characterised by sociopolitical and economic uncertainty; however, the group reports that it is well positioned to navigate these challenges, both internally and externally.

On an annualised basis, the first quarter’s adjusted Ebitda equates to about R55-billion ($3.6-billion) – well above the adjusted Ebitda of R49.4-billion ($3-billion) reported for 2020 and the R15-billion ($1-billion) reported for 2019.

This year’s first-quarter annualised adjusted Ebitda is the second-highest since the group was established, with the highest on record being the R68.6-billion ($4.6-billion) reported for 2021.

Domestically, the socioeconomic and labour environment remains a challenge for Sibanye, with the lockout of workers who are members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at the miner’s South African gold operations.

This follows extended wage negotiations and a strike by AMCU and NUM members that is entering its third month.

In this regard, Sibanye says it is continuing to engage with organised labour to secure a fair and sustainable agreement, but will also not be coerced into above-inflation wage demands, which may impact on the sustainability of its operations and negatively impact other stakeholders.

While an employee lockout remains in place, Sibanye has suspended its guidance for the South African gold operations.

Sibanye’s capital expenditure for the first quarter was 62% higher year-on-year at R974-million ($64-million), primarily as a result of the R204-million ($13-million) project investment at the Marikana K4 project.

Sustaining capital was 55% higher year-on-year, at R386-million ($25-million).

PLATINUM GROUP METALS

The miner’s South African platinum group metal (PGM) operations performed strongly in the period under review, producing 421 540 oz of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold (4E). This includes third-party purchase of concentrate (PoC), which was 5% lower year-on-year.

Underground production of 370 272 oz of 4E was 5% lower year-on-year, but partly offset by 15% higher surface production of 40 576 oz of 4E.

Total production from the South African PGM operations (excluding PoC) of 410 848 oz of 4E was 3% lower year-on-year, primarily as a result of a slower-than-planned return to work at the Marikana and Rustenburg operations after the December break.

Sibanye says its cost management endeavours, despite inflationary pressures, were again evident in the 6% year-on-year reduction in its all-in sustaining costs (AISC), including PoC, of R18 600/oz of 4E ($1 222/oz). This was mainly owing to reduced third-party PoC material purchases.

AISC (excluding PoC) was 1% higher year-on-year at R17 886/oz ($1 175/oz), despite marginally lower production.

These cost management efforts from Sibanye’s South African PGM operations were maintained despite the impact of inflationary pressures affecting the mining industry globally, partially offset by higher credits received from the by-products sold as a result of increased metal prices and is in stark contrast to the double-digit cost increases reported by PGM industry peers during the past 12 months.

Marikana produced 3% less year-on-year, at 169 102 oz of 4E (excluding PoC), while the Rustenburg operation’s production was 5% lower year-on-year at 149 041 oz of 4E.

PGMs production of 49 518 oz from the Kroondal operation was 7% lower year-on-year, as a result of adverse ground conditions at both Kroondal East and West, which led to lower yields, particularly in March.

The openpit Kl...

Despite facing various global challenges, JSE-listed gold miner Gold Fields achieved a 7% year-on-year increase in attributable equivalent gold production for the quarter ended March 31.

While the 580 000 oz of gold produced in the quarter was 8% lower quarter-on-quarter, Gold Fields said it remained on track to achieve its full-year production guidance.

The South Deep mine, in South Africa, produced 78 000 oz of gold in the first quarter – a 31% year-on-year increase.

Production at Gold Fields' Ghana mines, however, decreased by 5% year-on-year to 210 000 oz.

The Australian operations delivered a 10% year-on-year increase in output, at 258 000 oz, while the Cerro Corona mine, in Peru, produced 56 000 oz – a 21% year-on-year increase.

CEO Chris Griffith said on May 5 that the first quarter had been a challenging start to the year from a macro perspective.

“As we finally seemed to have overcome the worst of Covid‐19, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has had a material impact. [In addition to] the devastation caused by . . . war, the world is being plagued with heightened inflation, driven by high oil and gas prices and, more broadly, higher commodity prices.

"While we expected the mining sector to be challenged by high inflation at the start of the year, the impact has been worse than initially expected,” he said.

Griffith noted that high commodity prices had driven inflation in energy costs, logistics and consumables.

However, the higher inflationary pressures were offset to some extent by higher‐than‐expected copper by‐product credit, he added.

Consequently, Gold Fields would leave its full-year cost guidance unchanged.

For 2022, attributable gold equivalent production, excluding the Asanko mine, in Ghana, is expected to be between 2.25-million and 2.29-million ounces, compared with the 2.25-million ounces produced in 2021.

Asanko is an equity accounted joint venture between precious metals producer Galiano Gold and Gold Fields.

Including Asanko, however, attributable gold equivalent production is expected to be between 2.29-million and 2.34-million ounces.

All-in-sustaining costs for the full-year are expected to be between $1 140/oz and $1 180/oz, with all-in costs (AIC) expected to be between $1 370/oz and $1 410/oz.

If the large project capital expenditure taking place at the Salares Norte project, in Chile, is excluded, AIC are expected to be between $1 230/oz and $1 270/oz.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

In terms of Gold Fields renewable energy efforts, Griffith noted that the South Deep mine’s 50 MW solar plant, in Gauteng, was on track for commissioning in the third quarter of the year, with installation of the 101 000 solar panels proceeding.

Nearly 240 people have been employed in the construction phase of the project, with black economic empowerment contractors carrying out most of the work.

After President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last year that the licensing exemption for distributed generation would increase to 100 MW, South Deep applied to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for approval to increase its solar project output capacity to 60 MW.

South Deep obtained approval from Nersa in March.

Year-to-date expenditure on the plant amounted to R164-million, with the full-year expenditure expected to reach R554-million. Total expenditure to build and commission the plant is estimated at about R700-million.

Griffith said the construction of the plant was currently 9% behind plan, owing to global supply constraints and the need to secure shipping slots. However, he noted that the team remained confident that the plant would still come online in August to supply electricity as planned.

Meanwhile, at the Gruyere mine in Australia, the construction of a 12 MW solar plant and a 4.4 MW battery storage facility has been completed with the system now being performance tested and ramping up for commissioning, scheduled for June.

Gruyere is a 50:50 joint venture between gold production companies Gold Road and Gruyere...

The World Coal Association, and its member companies, are in favour of a just transition to a net-zero future, World Coal Association chairperson July Ndlovu said on Thursday.

In his keynote address to the Southern African Coal Conference, Ndlovu emphasised the sincerity of the association’s standing by stating that “we are not disingenuous when we say this. We are real people with families and communities. We also want the best for the future of our planet, people and economies."

That said, the World Coal Association is of the view that the world needs to take what it described as a “responsible, balanced, realistic, and integrated approach to our collective energy future”.

This, he told the conference covered by Mining Weekly, meant recognising the need for energy stability, affordability, and sustainability – and thinking carefully about how best to deal with the energy transition, given that global energy supply is at a crisis point in the light of recent events.

“This crisis point is a culmination of the interconnectedness of commodity markets and some very big issues playing out around the globe,” said Ndlovu.

These issues, he said, included:

the reopening of post-Covid economies and increased consumer demand, alongside rising oil prices and ongoing global supply chain disruptions;

the slowdown of industrial sectors such as fertilisers, automotive manufacture, and digital production;

inflation being seven to ten points higher than prepandemic levels; and

the shock of the war – not only in terms of global peace and security, but also in terms of a negative supply shock for the global economy and a disruption of global energy relationships, prices and flows.

Before the outbreak of the war, most key global macroeconomic variables were expected to return to normal in 2022/23, thanks to global vaccination efforts, supportive macroeconomic policies and financial conditions in the major economies.

Commodity prices and supply chains have been severely affected by the war, because even though Russia and Ukraine collectively only contribute 2% of global gross domestic product, they are major contributors to global commodities, such as staple foods, minerals and energy.

This is why groups of countries are calling on policymakers to reconsider the appropriateness of market design when it comes to energy.

Instead, the world needs to ensure energy security through diversity and “ensure the green transition in a publicly supported way”.

“All of these complex developments signal what we know to be rational and real: the need for the world to spread its energy risk for a collectively more stable, secure, affordable and sustainable energy future for all people on the planet. It is simply unwise to toss our eggs into one or two baskets - or phrased differently, to commit ourselves to limited and unreliable energy supply chains, Ndlovu added.

“Within this context, we are here today to talk about the future of specifically thermal coal. I believe we need to embrace the path of energy diversity - and coal needs to be, and will be, a part of that mix for the foreseeable future. That is what the world needs, to get through this time of volatility and transition, with affordable and secure energy in place for the sustenance of the global economy and its people. Pragmatism and realism are vital right now when it comes to the energy mix,” he said, cautioning against a rushed transition.

CLEAN COAL

Ndlovu described the deployment of clean coal technologies as being imperative to reaching a sustainable future and highlighted the World Coal Association’s programme of clean coal engagement with governments, industry, investors, climate science, and the media.

He said carbon capture and storage is expected to contribute 14% of the world’s cumulative carbon dioxide reduction by 2060.

He spoke of coal to hydrogen being a potentially valuable fuel source that could help to combat climate change.

He cited high efficiency, low emissions technology record...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the need for South Africa to make known its iridium supply status to advance the hydrogen economy; for the first time, the coins used in the Wimbledon finals will be made of platinum, this in the year of the Queen’s platinum jubilee; and how can South Africa improve conditions for the poor and working class?

It’s not just tier one. This is a super tier one,” says Barrick Gold president and CEO Dr Mark Bristow of the proposed Reko Diq project, one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold porphyry deposits in the world.

Bristow is scheduled to meet Pakistan’s new prime minister later this month to review progress on restarting the Reko Diq copper-gold project, the signing of the framework agreement for which was one of the highlights of Barrick’s first quarter (Q1).

The New York- and Toronto-listed company’s net cash balance at the end of Q1 stood at $743-million, reflecting cash flow from the operations, the continuing sale of non-core assets, and its share of a further $0.6-billion in cash distributions by Kibali.

Since agreement on the repatriation of revenue from Kibali was reached with the Democratic Republic of Congo last year, Kibali has delivered $1.2-billion (on a 100% basis) in the form of dividends and debt repayments, inclusive of distributions received subsequent to March 31, 2022.

Regarding Reko Diq, Barrick is working towards finalising the final agreement, which is expected to be confirmed through Acts of Parliament and the Supreme Court.

“I hanker after world-class assets and there is nothing like this available in the world today,” Bristow enthused in an interview with Mining Weekly.

The cost of securing it was really just the effort of engaging and getting a framework agreement.

“As I’ve done in the past, it’s a 50:50 down the middle,” said Bristow. Twenty-five percent of the shareholding will be the three state enterprises that have got strong balance sheets and cash, 25% will be fully funded equity position for the Balochistan government and Barrick Gold will hold 50% and control.

“In addition to its size and quality, Barrick’s asset base is distinguished by our continued success in more than replacing the reserves depleted by mining through brownfields exploration. At the same time, we continue to hunt for new tier One assets across our expanding global footprint.

The ground-breaking partnership agreement between Barrick Gold, the federal government of Pakistan and the provincial government of Balochistan should unlock the enormous value and is poised to bring significant economic and social benefits to Pakistan and Balochistan.

Gold mining company Barrick Gold, which has just reported an outstanding set of first quarter financial results, is funding the reintroduction of white rhinos to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where it mines at Kibali Gold Mine.

Since agreement on the repatriation of revenue from Kibali was reached with the DRC last year, Kibali has delivered $1.2-billion (on a 100% basis) in the form of dividends and debt repayments, inclusive of distributions received subsequent to March 31, 2022.

The New York- and Toronto-listed company, which has raised its first-quarter dividend in the back of a strong cash position, is partnering with African Parks and the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature to fund the transfer of at least 50 rhinos from South Africa in 2022.

Barrick’s net cash balance at the end of the first quarter stood at $743-million, reflecting cash flow from the operations, the continuing sale of non-core assets, and its share of a further $0.6 billion in cash distributions by Kibali.

Restoring the white rhino population is the aim at the Garamba National Park, located 70km north of its Kibali mine in the north-east of the DRC.

The park covers an area greater than 5 000 km2 and is adjacent to four contiguous reserves with an additional 10 000 km2.

As one of Africa’s oldest national parks and a Unesco World Heritage Site, Garamba has been placed on the list of World Heritage Sites in danger, following years of armed conflict, civil wars and poaching that has resulted in steep declines in its wildlife populations.

Barrick, headed by CEO Dr Mark Bristow, has provided support to the park since 2015, with a view to protecting and restoring its biodiversity and resulting in a notable improvement in the herd size of the endangered Kordofan giraffe, which has grown from 22 individuals in 2012 to 65 last year.

Similarly, buffalo populations have also steadily grown with average herd sizes ranging from 20 to nearly 500 individuals. Furthermore, there has not been an instance of elephant poaching since September 2020.

In its endeavours to ramp up copper production and become the third-largest copper producer, diversified miner Ivanhoe Mines has started earthworks on a 500 000 t/y direct-to-blister flash smelter at its Democratic Republic of Congo- (DRC-) based and 39.6%-owned Kamoa-Kakula copper mining complex.

The smelter – with a nameplate capacity to produce 99%-pure blister copper – has been sized to process most of the copper concentrate forecast to be produced by Kamoa-Kakula's Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 concentrators.

The smelter will be built adjacent to the Phase 1 and 2 concentrator plants and is designed to use technology supplied by Metso Outotec, meeting the International Finance Corporation’s emissions standards.

In late 2021, Kamoa Copper awarded engineering company China Nerin Engineering the basic engineering contract for the planned smelter.

Ivanhoe notes that Nerin actively promotes the advancement of smelting technology through its own research and development, and establishing various partnerships with global industry peers, including Metso Outotec.

Once in operation, the smelter is expected to enable Kamoa-Kakula to reduce its cash costs per pound of payable copper produced by about 10% to 20%, driven by significantly reduced transportation costs, reducing overall volumes shipped by more than half, as well as more favourable tax treatment, and the recovery and sale of sulphuric acid as a by-product revenue.

Ivanhoe says there is strong demand and a market for sulphuric acid in the DRC to recover copper from oxide ores. Copper mines in the region currently import significant volumes of sulphur used in sulphur-burning acid plants to produce sulphuric acid for the treatment of oxide copper ores. The DRC also imports sulphuric acid, primarily from Zambia.

PHASE 3 EXPANSION

The Phase 3 expansion of Kamoa-Kakula complex is also on track to take the mine into third place on a global copper production scale, increasing yearly copper production capacity to about 600 000 t by the fourth quarter of 2024.

Kamoa-Kakula’s Phase 3 will consist of two new underground mines known as Kamoa 1 and Kamoa 2, as well as the initial decline development at Kakula West.

A new, five-million-tonne-a-year concentrator plant will be established adjacent to the two new mines at Kamoa, taking total processing capacity to more than 14-million tonnes a year.

Going forward, the existing Phase 1 and 2 concentrators will be de-bottlenecked and operating at a combined throughput of 9.2-million tonnes a year by the second quarter of 2023, which is expected to increase Kamoa-Kakula’s copper production to more than 450 000 t/y.

Meanwhile, negotiations for an amendment to Kamoa-Kakula’s offtake arrangements for Phase 2 production are nearly complete, with copper product currently being shipped under existing, Phase 1 agreements.

Kamoa-Kakula’s Phase 3 expansion will be powered by hydroelectricity through Kamoa Copper’s Inga II partnership, which is expected to generate an additional 178 MW of renewable hydropower for the DRC.

Ivanhoe co-chairperson Robert Friedland says that, along with its joint venture partner Zijin Mining, Ivanhoe is resolved to expedite future expansion phases at Kamoa-Kakula to meet rapidly rising copper demand, create profitable growth for shareholders, and long-lasting economic and social benefits for the Congolese nation and people.

“We are at an inflection point for the copper industry . . . one where we must determine how to meet growing demand, even as discovering and building new mines becomes ever more challenging.

“Humanity will likely require as much copper in the next 22 years alone as it did through this point in its history – [about] 700-million tonnes – just to maintain 3% gross domestic product growth,” he says.

South Africa would do well to highlight its key iridium supply status to gain the full confidence of a world that requires this very rare platinum group metal (PGM) to advance the fast-moving hydrogen economy.

Iridium is a potent co-roleplayer with PGMs stalwart platinum when it comes to electrolysing hydrogen from water.

Because of South Africa's solar power potential, land availability and PGM endowments, SFA Oxford CEO Henk de Hoop expresses the view that the country should raise its flag to highlight the key role it can play in fostering global decarbonisation. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

De Hoop, who spoke to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview, believes that South Africa could play a leading role in getting the first big green hydrogen projects off the ground, particularly against the background of the long grey hydrogen track record of technology-smart South African synthetic fuel producer Sasol.

Money, he says, is available for hydrogen development and South Africa, he believes, should strive to be at the front of the green funding queue.

Scale, he emphasises, will eventually ensure the competitiveness of the now costly green hydrogen and he sees advantage in South Africa Incorporated participating in hydrogen development at pace.

Mining Weekly: Do you detect an acceleration in the momentum of the hydrogen economy?

De Hoop: Absolutely, and we shouldn't underestimate the capital and the broadness of the capital that is now being committed to making it all happen. I guess in the past the focus was very much on fuel cells and the future of fuel cells, but it has moved a lot now into the production of electrolysers and the production of hydrogen from those electrolysers – and that has become a lot more exciting for particularly the PGMs sector because we need some very critical materials for that to happen. Iridium is one of them and there are very few places in the world where you find iridium. As with many other minerals, South Africa is blessed with unique resources and will be a key source of iridium. So yes, we’re seeing lots of momentum behind the green hydrogen economy – and one can see that in the capital budgets that have been committed, in the subsidies committed by governments, and the money being committed by companies to make this happen. There have been a whole range of exciting announcements and it's quite difficult to keep track.

Is it important in your view that the world should be focused on green hydrogen that makes use of renewables?

Yes, but I think we should also be realistic about the size of the challenge. Green hydrogen, ideally, is obviously generated from either hydropower or solar power or wind power, and hydrogen production from the green energy is one aspect. I think the focus should initially be more on access to hydrogen in the first place because that moves development away from the chicken-and-egg situation. We need hydrogen first before we can commit to technologies, and I think we’ve started to get there. There are a lot of commitments being made to see what processes can be run on hydrogen, even if, in the short term, it’s from grey hydrogen, for example. Once proven, the next stage will be ramping up green hydrogen production to the scales required. The big challenge for green hydrogen, in the short term, is cost. Producing other colours of hydrogen is still a lot cheaper but the technologies for those hydrogen consumption patterns to emerge are ramping up quite quickly, and I think the volumes of demand will ramp up quite quickly and that will, in turn, help the green hydrogen economy to develop.

Which countries are furthest advanced when it comes to green hydrogen?

We see particularly Western Europe putting real capital in the ground, providing subsidies, putting lots of big windmills out in the Atlantic to make it all happen. The reality is that the scale of the challenge is still very large. It’s a long, long road. It needs an enormous amount of capital but it's als...

JSE- and ASX-listed Orion Minerals recorded a productive March quarter, with several significant developments across its business, which the company expects will deliver important outcomes in the second half of the year, MD and CEO Errol Smart says.

In terms of project development, an early production assessment for the Prieska copper/zinc project, in Kimberley, in the Northern Cape, has been fast-tracked, with investigations into phasing the project development to bring forward the first concentrate production and evaluate remnant pillar mining potential, expected to be completed by the third quarter.

The decision to investigate early production, together with the mining of underground pillars, should allow Orion to produce first concentrate 14 months earlier than originally envisioned in the 2020 bankable feasibility study, Smart acclaims.

Resource in-fill drilling started at the 105 Level supergene resource at Prieska to support potential early production from openpit mining.

A 6 000 m underground diamond drilling programme is under way, targeting remnant pillars at Prieska, with a mineral resource update expected to be estimated by the third quarter.

Discussions with banks and financiers regarding the financing for the Prieska Deeps project are continuing in parallel with the engineering assessment of the early works opportunities.

Discussions have also been initiated with potential financiers who have expressed interest in funding the early dewatering and production plan.

Orion extended an agreement to consolidate ownership of the highly prospective Jacomynspan nickel/copper/cobalt project, located 65 km north of Prieska, to provide additional time for the owners to discuss a potential expanded and revised transaction, whereby additional prospective Southern African nickel projects may be combined with the Jacomynspan project.

Nickel, an essential component in electric vehicle batteries, fits well into its strategy of being a green metals producer.

“We are also progressing the investigation of technologies to extract the precursor battery metal products and generate premium product for sale with a local refining/beneficiation plant,” says Smart.

EXPLORATION

A successful maiden drilling programme was completed on the Koperberg – Carolusberg line of intrusives at the Okiep copper project in the Northern Cape, with 25 diamond drill holes completed.

Assay results have confirmed historically reported drill results and highlighted the presence of significant shallow mineralisation.

Orion has made a new copper/nickel discovery within Okiep, with the first drill hole undertaken to test a SkyTEM anomaly with coincident magnetic and electromagnetic anomalies at the Nous prospect, which the company says provides strong validation for its modern exploration methodology.