Orion Minerals has cleared a key financing hurdle for its reviving Prieska Copper Zinc Mine in South Africa's Northern Cape, with the $40-million Tranche A financing from Glencore now unconditional and the first drawdown expected by the end of October 2026.

The funding which the company announced on Monday, October 19 enables key development contracts, site mobilisation and construction activities to progress, with first copper and zinc production from the shallower, higher-grade Uppers section targeted for the end of 2027.

Tranche B financing of $210-million remains conditional, with Orion continuing discussions with funding partners to secure the remaining finance required for development of the Deeps Mine.

The first phase will target early production from Uppers, with dewatering of historical underground workings progressing in parallel. The second phase will focus on the more extensive Deeps resource once dewatering, shaft rehabilitation and infrastructure provision are complete.

Exploration will continue alongside development. Five extension targets have been identified at depth and are planned to be evaluated through underground drilling as access improves, providing potential to expand the resource base and extend mine life.

Torque Africa has been appointed to carry out the drilling programme, structured to support geotechnical and final mine design definition ahead of mining. Enprotec has been selected to deliver the 20,000-tonne-a-month Uppers concentrator under a build-own-operate-transfer arrangement. Tranche A funding also enables construction of an accommodation village.

“While finalising these agreements has been a lengthy and detailed process, our project and operations teams have used this time productively to advance engineering, finalise development plans, select key contractors and establish the systems and processes required for disciplined project execution,” said Orion CEO Tony Lennox. “This puts us in a strong position to commence development activities, with a strong focus on safety, operational readiness, cost control and project governance”.

Lennox added: “The world continues to require ever increasing volumes of new copper and zinc production to meet crucial energy transition goals and we look forward to bringing this important South African resource into production and delivering long-term benefits for our shareholders, employees and local communities”.

Glencore's Toby Spittle said: “We are pleased to assist Orion with financing for it to bring Prieska back to life and become South Africa's next copper producer”.

The Prieska Copper Zinc Mine, located near Copperton, sits on a volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit that produced 430,000 tonnes of copper and a million tonnes of zinc between 1971 and 1991 when operated by the now-defunct Anglovaal.

Orion is also progressing the Okiep Copper Project in the Northern Cape, a district that produced more than two million tonnes of copper over 150 years. Drilling at Okiep has confirmed ongoing high-grade Flat Mine East copper mineralisation, with intercepts of 7.88 metres at 9.24% copper and 3.33 metres at 17.12% copper.