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CEO: Initial resource estimate for Orion Minerals' Prieska exceeds expectations

Orion Minerals NL on Feb. 5 unveiled an initial JORC-compliant resource estimate for its past-producing Prieska zinc-copper property in South Africa.

The project hosts indicated and inferred resources totaling 24.2 million tonnes grading 3.47% zinc, 1.23% copper, 0.21 g/t of gold and 9.36 g/t of silver for 873,655 tonnes of zinc, 297,129 tonnes of copper, 163,340 ounces of gold and 7.3 million ounces of silver.

The Deep Sulfide deposit hosts the bulk of the resource, with 22.6 million tonnes in the inferred category.

The resource is on the Repli prospecting right, which covers about 70% of the primary target area. The company is working on permitting to enable drilling of the remaining 30% of the primary target area.

"This maiden mineral resource for Prieska far exceeds our original expectations for the target tested and demonstrates that the Prieska project can be classified as a giant [volcanogenic massive sulfide] body," said CEO and Managing Director Errol Smart.

Orion Minerals noted that the target massive sulfide body remains open both on strike and dip.

The estimate is based on drilling data available as of Dec. 31, 2017, and excludes seven additional intersections reported since. Orion Minerals also expects another six drillholes to be completed by the end of February, with drilling in the first half of 2018 focused on upgrading resources.

A bankable feasibility study on Prieska is underway, and Orion Minerals is considering the +105 open pit target for early production while mine dewatering is completed.