Orion Minerals Ltd. has signed a binding prepayment agreement with Glencore for a US$250 million to fund the development of the Prieska copper-zinc project in South Africa.
Orion Minerals’ subsidiary Prieska Copper Zinc Mine signed the agreement with Glencore’s subsidiary. The prepayment facility will be made available to Prieska through two tranches.
The first tranche, valued at US$40 million, will be used to fund the construction and start-up of the Uppers development at the mine, while the second tranche, valued at US$210 million, will fund the construction of the Deeps development at Prieska.
Orion CEO Tony Lennox said the funding is a landmark agreement for the company.
“We expect first production from the Uppers [development to occur] 13 months after closing of the prepayment facility, which is now expected around the end of March 2026 due to a short delay in finalising this agreement and the delivery timing of long lead time equipment orders,” Lennox said.
“Consequently, first concentrate is now expected at the end of the first quarter of 2027.
“While PCZM (Prieska Copper Zinc Mine) is on the brink of construction, followed by production, our exploration and optimisation programs at the Okiep Copper Project are also progressing well, and the BHP Xplor program, announced last week, highlights the exceptional potential of our broader Northern Cape portfolio.”
The Prieska mine is Orion’s key project in its future-facing metals portfolio.
It was historically mined between the 1970s and 1990s and is one of the world’s top-30 volcanogenic massive sulphide base metal deposits.
The mine has a recorded historical production of over 430,000 tonnes of copper and one million tonnes of zinc from 46.8 million tonnes of sulphide ore milled.
