Will Orion revive Okiep’s copper?
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Will Orion revive Okiep’s copper?
Orion Minerals is fast tracking development of the historic Okiep copper mine.
By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine.
Standing in the main road of Nababeep in the Northern Cape of South Africa is like time travelling to a time when companies like the Cape Copper Company, Newmont Mining and Gold Fields made the mills hum.
The town is surrounded by historic shafts, mining dumps and even an old smelter, which (according to most sources) was built in 1939 and operated until about 2007.
At Copper 360’s office building in town, Clara, the old locomotive, still has a honourary position facing Port Nolloth, the port to which it delivered copper from 1891 to the 1940s.
When you pass Copper 360s offices (Copper 360 is a company remining the old dumps) you soon arrive at Orion Mineral’s new office building very close to the old smelter.
A new life for Okiep
This is where the WhyAfrica team headed on day 8 of the 2025 WhyAfrica Road Trip, to find out how Orion is reviving mining in the area and blowing new life into the towns of Nababeep, Okiep and Springbok through advancing the Okiep Copper Project (OCP).
Since acquiring the rights in 2021, Orion has consolidated many of the historic mining rights. The company is now fast-tracking development by focusing initially on the “Flat Mines” area (Flat Mines North, East and South), utilising both historical drill data from Newmont and Gold Fields, and new drilling, to bring Okiep back into production.
OCP is a fascinating and intriguing new development project in an area plagued by unemployment and poverty, and if execution follows the script will be a huge injection for the whole region.
A mine with a long history
OCP comprises the core of a premier historical copper district that produced more than two million tonnes of copper over a 150-year period ending in 2003.
The mineral rights held by Orion include numerous existing drilled copper orebodies including some with decline mine access and services in place.
In addition to its acquisition of the OCP, Orion has also acquired an extensive historical database of mining and exploration records from the Okiep Copper Company covering more than 60 years.
Of note is that Okiep-style deposits have the potential to be mined at low cost by both open pit and underground mining methods.
Furthermore, potential exists to identify significant operational synergies with the fully permitted Prieska Copper Zinc Mine, also located in the Northern Cape Province.
It is worth following development at Orion’s Okiep project as the extremely experienced team at Okiep ups the ante in the next year or two.
Image: Looking for a new beginning at Okiep in the Northern Cape. Image credit: Leon Louw for WhyAfrica
Will Orion revive Okiep’s copper?