Orion’s Prieska in South Africa is WhyAfrica’s Pick Of The Week
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Orion’s Prieska in South Africa is WhyAfrica’s Pick Of The Week
This year is make or break for Orion’s Copper Zinc Mine in South Africa
Orion Mineral’s Prieska cooper and zinc project in the Northern Cape of South Africa has been the blue-eyed boy of the junior mining sector in South Africa for almost six years.
Although there have been significant milestones during this time, despite several operational challenges and regulatory hurdles, one cannot but feel that 2026 is the year when Prieska will have to step up.
Progress with offtake agreement
The project’s future hinges on securing a USD250-million financing and offtake package with multinational Glencore to help fund further construction.
Orion said in a statement last November that substantial progress was made with the Glencore deal, but negotiations were put on ice in December during the holiday break.
The company emphasised that this was a pause, not a technical failure of the project.
Prieska is expected to produce 22,000t of copper and 65,000t of zinc per year at steady state.
Solid underground infrastructure
The Prieska ore body was mined by Anglovaal’s subsidiary Prieska Copper Mine Pty Ltd from 1971 to 1991. The initial discovery was made in 1968.
The original underground infrastructure at Prieska is still in good nick and the mine has grid power, secure water supply, sealed road access, nearby rail and an established mining town.
Water ingress has been the main operational challenge since reestablishing the mining operations. However, good progress has been in lowering the water levels.
To deal with the excess water, Prieska has installed three water evaporators on the bank of the overflow sump on the tailing’s storage facility. The evaporators are currently removing about 100 to 140m3/hour.
The plan is to increase these units to about 30 units to reach a design evaporation rate of close to 1000m3/hour as the project advances.
WhyAfrica visits Prieska during the 2025 WhyAfrica Road Trip
WhyAfrica visited the Orion Project as part of the 2025 WhyAfrica Road Trip through South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho and southern Namibia.
Image: In picture are two of the three water evaporators currently in use. Image credit: Leon Louw for WhyAfrica.
WhyAfrica tracks and visits exploration and early stage mining projects across Africa.
WhyAfrica specialises in the sustainable use and responsible development of Africa’s natural resources.
Orion’s Prieska in South Africa is WhyAfrica’s Pick Of The Week