PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper developer Orion Minerals on Tuesday said that it would postpone debt financing activities for the development of its Prieska copper project, in South Africa, until global macroeconomic and market conditions stabilise.
The ASX- and JSE-listed Orion has told shareholders that the company has proactively implemented work-from-home protocols from March 13, and has implemented cost saving and asset preservation initiatives across its business since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.
All work sites have been closed and secured, and staff and contractors have been sent home until further notice, the company said.
“While we have made the decision to postpone debt financing activities for Prieska until global market conditions stabilise, we are fortunate that the company will shortly be finalising its active feasibility study work and permitting activities, with a resultant reduction in spending requirements,” said Orion MD and CEO Errol Smart.
“We will be able to weather the storm by dramatically reducing spending, while preserving a top-class, build-ready base metal project that can be activated as soon as global manufacturing and metal demand re-commences.”
The A$378-million project is currently expected to produce at a rate of 2.4-million tonnes a year, producing 189 000 t of copper and 580 000 t of zinc in its ten-year foundation phase.
Orion is targeting the completion of all technical and engineering work by early in the second quarter, with the company also undertaking exploratory discussions with potential project-level strategic equity partners, or investors into the Prieska project.