JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX- and JSE- listed Orion Minerals has applied for a mining right for its Prieska base metals project, in South Africa’s Northern Cape, and has also established a maiden resource of 5.2-million tons for the Vardocube area within the Prieska project area.

The resource, which is in the southern strike extension of the Prieska volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit, contains 253 000 t of zinc and 67 000 t of copper.

“The addition of the Vardocube prospecting right has included an important higher-grade extension to the Prieska deep sulphide deposit, and we are confident that the application of the exploration techniques that were successful in extending the northern end of the deposit on Repli will again deliver significant extensions on this southern strike extension, which is also open on dip and strike,” CEO Errol Smart said in a statement on Monday.

The total resource for the Prieska zinc/copper project has now increased to 29.4-million tonnes containing 1.13-million tons of zinc at 3.8% zinc and 365 000 t of copper at 1.2% copper.

“Infill and extension drilling on the Vardocube prospecting right will begin shortly.”

The drilling, together with the use of downhole geophysics is expected to result in a further expansion of the Vardocube resource and an upgrade in classification in the near term.

Meanwhile, Orion’s subsidiary Repli Trading, has submitted the mining right application covering 723 ha of executed prospecting rights at the Prieska project.

The application is supported by a comprehensive environmental authorisation application and a provisional mining works programme.

“The application for the mining right will allow us to meet our objective of beginning mine construction in mid-2019. It will also allow the company the use of the extending underground access development, on which Orion has completed comprehensive engineering studies,” Smart noted.