Orion Gold: Bringing Prieska back to life
An Australian company believes it can revive a historical Northern Cape copper and zinc mine at current prices
The recovery in zinc prices in the past five years has encouraged Australian-listed Orion Gold to acquire an interest in the former Anglovaal-owned Prieska mine in the Northern Cape to exploit its known remaining copper and zinc. Robert Friedland, CEO of Ivanhoe Mines, says there is a forecast deficit of 360,000t in the zinc market. It has arisen mainly because of the closure of two large mines, Lisheen in Ireland and Century in Australia, and the discovery of new uses for zinc as a soil additive to improve crop yields. Zinc prices have risen to about US$2,825/t at present from below $2,000/t five years ago. Orion CEO Errol Smart is an SA geologist who worked for Anglo American and later in the Barberton gold mines. He has spent 10 years working in various countries, including Australia. He has returned to SA to develop Orion’s interests in Prieska. This month Orion announced an A$8m issue of convertible notes to exercise its option to buy Agama Exploration & Mining, the owners of a...
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