IDC acquires 43.75% of new Okiep Mining Company from Orion

Orion has announced that, after finalising recently announced pre-development funding arrangements with the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), Orion has taken another important step in advancing its brownfields Okiep Copper Project in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa towards the planned restart of mining operations.

Orion has entered into definitive agreements which will see the IDC acquire 43.75% of the shares in New Okiep Mining Company Proprietary Limited (NOM) and trigger pre-development funding arrangements for the Flat Mines SAFTA area, as announced on 7 September 2022.

Key points:

• The Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) has become a 43.75% shareholder in New Okiep Mining Company Proprietary Limited (NOM) alongside Orion, which holds the remaining 56.25% of the NOM ordinary shares.
• This marks a major step towards the re-establishment of mining operations at the advanced Okiep Copper Project, Orion’s second emerging production hub in the Northern Cape Province.  
• The IDC will now advance its pro rata share of the ZAR79 million (~A$6.9 million) total budgeted pre-development operating costs of NOM, with Orion having already advanced its entire pro rata share of ZAR44 million (~A$3.9 million) to NOM.
• NOM is acquiring the Prospecting Rights and the recently granted Mining Right at Okiep from Southern African Tantalum Mining Proprietary Limited (SAFTA), in which the IDC is currently a 43.75% shareholder.
• Upon NOM acquiring the SAFTA assets, the IDC will sell 22.22% of its shares in NOM to a BEECo, being a BEE Entrepreneur entity led by Lulamile Xate, to further the Historically Disadvantaged South Africans (HDSA) ownership objectives of the Mining Charter 2018.
• Thereafter, Community and Employee Trusts will each acquire a 5% meaningful economic participation interest in NOM, resulting in a 30% meaningful economic participation interest being held by HDSA’s, consistent with the HDSA ownership objectives of the Mining Charter 2018.