Orion Minerals has received South African Reserve Bank approval for a $250-million copper and zinc concentrates prepayment facility from a Glencore subsidiary, clearing a key condition for construction at its Prieska Copper Zinc Mine.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company announced the approval in a 31 July 2026 update, confirming that the substantive conditions precedent for the Glencore financing had been satisfied. The facility earmarks $40-million to fund construction and startup of Prieska's Uppers, with $210-million allocated to the Deeps.

"This is a landmark agreement for Orion. Tranche A will fund the Uppers Development while the early drawdown of Tranche B will allow us to start work on the Deeps. We expect first production from the Uppers 13 months after closing of the Prepayment Facility, which is now expected around the end of March 2026 due to a short delay in finalising this agreement and the delivery timing of long lead time equipment orders," Lennox said in a 9 February 2026 announcement.

The company expects first production from Prieska in the third quarter of 2027. Lennox reaffirmed the timeline in July.

"We are pleased that the conditions precedent for the drawdown of Tranche A under the Glencore financing agreement are nearing satisfaction, which will allow us to move into the execution of the Uppers at Prieska.

This will be a major milestone in the life of Orion, and we look forward to becoming a producer, which on the current timetable is expected to occur, 13 months after Tranche A of the financing closes," Lennox said.

Orion is developing two complementary base metal production hubs in South Africa's Northern Cape. The company is reviving the Prieska Copper Zinc Mine near Copperton, which produced 430,000 tonnes of copper and a million tons of zinc from 1971 to 1991 under previous operator Anglovaal. The Okiep Copper Project has a historical record of more than two-million tons of copper over 150 years.

Prieska's first phase targets early production from the shallower, higher-grade Uppers, with dewatering of historical underground workings progressing in parallel. The second phase targets the more extensive Deeps resource as dewatering, shaft rehabilitation and infrastructure provision are completed.

Torque Africa has been appointed as drilling contractor, while Enprotec will build, own, operate and transfer a 20,000-tonne-a-month Uppers concentrator.

The Industrial Development Corporation completed a partial conversion of its approximately ZAR344.5-million convertible loan facility into equity on 29 May 2026. The conversion gave the IDC a 23.8% shareholding in PCZM HoldCo and an effective interest of about 16.7% in the Prieska project entity. The IDC retained a shareholder loan claim of approximately ZAR272.4-million, or about $23.3-million.

At Okiep, drilling has confirmed ongoing high-grade copper mineralisation at Flat Mine East. Assay results announced on 20 May 2026 reported an intercept of 7.88 metres at 9.24% copper, including 3.33 metres at 17.12% copper, from hole OFMED157. The intercepts were from 311.29 metres and 315.84 metres down-hole. A follow-up announcement on 29 June 2026 confirmed the down-dip continuity of the high-grade zone.

Five extension targets have been identified at depth at Prieska and are planned to be evaluated through underground drilling as access improves.

Orion, with a market capitalisation of R2.54-billion, is advancing two permitted projects by revitalising legacy mines with significant exploration potential. The company stated in its 17 September 2026 media release that it aims to build an organisation centred on "experienced people, accountability, practical systems and adaptability."