Copper developer Orion Minerals has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Africa’s Council for Geoscience (CGS) to collaborate on exploration initiatives in the Northern Cape.

The studies will be aimed at stimulating greenfield exploration in an underexplored geological terrain, with particular focus on the application of modern exploration techniques.

“We have been impressed by the CGS’s recent drive to acquire, organise and make baseline geological data available to assist explorers and help stimulate a greenfield exploration boom in South Africa,” Orion MD and CEO Errol Smart said this month.

“The CGS has recognised that its counterparts worldwide play a critical role as the custodians of historical exploration data as well as in undertaking large, district-scale geoscientific studies that are often not within the capabilities of individual explorers. These surveys and related geoscientific studies often result in accelerated exploration programmes by mineral exploration companies that can sometimes lead to major discoveries that bring economic benefits to the regions.”

Under the terms of the MoU, the two parties will share both data and technical skills.

“The collaboration is on a nonexclusive basis and we sincerely hope that our fellow exploration and mining companies in the Northern Cape will join us in this exciting endeavour. “While we recognise and respect the need for confidentiality for each company’s key intellectual property and commercially sensitive exploration results, we think we can all gain much more by sharing and working together for a mutual good, than for each team to be working in ‘secret silos’.

“The sooner we pool the extensive geoscientific skills available in South Africa, and collaborate on gathering and harmonising datasets, the sooner we will make major new discoveries,” Smart said.

“Our intended first collaboration with the CGS will be for the acquisition and interpretation of a district-scale SkyTEMTM airborne electromagnetic survey over the Okiep copper district. Orion is preparing to fly a close-spaced survey at 150 m line spacing commencing in June this year to detect massive sulphide bodies – the first survey of its kind in this world-class copper district.

“As part of its collaboration with the CGS, Orion will also fund a regional survey at 1 000 m spaced lines, in-filling the 10 000 m line spacing flown by the CGS earlier this year, with the data to go on open file and be available for other explorers operating in the region.”