Orion secures US$40M Glencore funding for Prieska Mine development
Orion Minerals has announced a major milestone in the development of its flagship Prieska Copper Zinc Mine (PCZM) in South Africa’s Northern Cape, with the US$40 million Tranche A financing from Glencore plc (Glencore) now unconditional, clearing the way for the commencement of development of the Uppers Mine.
The milestone follows the finalisation and execution of the outstanding documentation and satisfaction of all remaining conditions precedent to Tranche A under the financing and offtake arrangements entered into by Orion’s subsidiary Prieska Copper Zinc Mine (Pty) Ltd, as announced on 9 February 2026.
The first drawdown under the US$40 million Tranche A is expected by the end of October, enabling Orion to commence key development activities at PCZM, with first production from the Uppers Mine targeted by the end of 2027.
Over the past year, Orion has made significant progress at Prieska, with work focused on operational readiness, detailed engineering and transitioning the project from planning to executable work packages. Torque Africa has been appointed as the drilling contractor, with the drilling program structured to support geotechnical and final mine design definition ahead of mining. ENPROTEC has been selected to deliver the 20,000tpm Uppers concentrator under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer arrangement. The finalisation of Tranche A of the funding will enable these contracts to be executed and for the construction of the accommodation village to commence.
The US$210 million Tranche B of the financing remains conditional on, amongst other things, the Deeps being fully funded and Glencore securing additional third-party funding to support its prepayments under Tranche B.
In parallel with commencing mobilisation of construction crews and equipment to site, Orion will continue to engage with existing and new funding partners to secure the remaining project financing required to proceed with development of the Deeps.
