Orion Minerals Confirms High-Grade Copper Growth Potential at Okiep with 7.88m at 9.24% Cu Intercept

Exceptional High-Grade Copper Intercept Validates Resource Expansion

Orion Minerals (ASX/JSE: ORN) has reported a striking assay result from drill hole OFMED157 at its Flat Mine East prospect within the Okiep Copper Project in South Africa. The hole intersected 7.88 metres grading 9.24% copper, including a blistering 3.33 metres at 17.12% copper, confirming earlier visual sulphide observations and underscoring the deposit's significant growth potential. This high-grade intercept lies 36 metres down-dip from a previously reported hole OFMED154, which itself returned robust mineralisation including 15 metres at 4.80% copper.

The OFMED157 result not only validates the continuity of the norite-hosted copper mineralisation but also reveals a spectrum of mineralisation styles from disseminated to massive bornite-chalcopyrite veins. Positioned 100 metres along strike from hole OFMED153, which yielded 49.35 metres at 5.05% copper, the latest intersection highlights a substantial, open-ended high-grade zone that remains open at depth, presenting immediate scale-up opportunities.

Strategic Drilling Advances Resource Optimisation

With the OFMED157 intercept expanding the high-grade footprint beyond the current Indicated Resource, Orion has swiftly advanced its drilling program, now underway with hole OFMED158 targeting the down-dip extension of this zone. The company’s Managing Director and CEO, Tony Lennox, emphasised the importance of these results in reinforcing the Flat Mines area as a cornerstone of Orion’s broader Okiep development strategy.

The Okiep Copper Project, covering 703 square kilometres and encompassing much of the historic Okiep copper mining district, holds an updated Mineral Resource of 10.0 million tonnes at 1.3% copper, as reported in March 2025. This resource is underpinned by extensive historical drilling and mining, with 105 million tonnes mined over the past century, 77 million tonnes of which fall within Orion’s prospecting and mining rights. The Flat Mine East drilling program forms part of a resource optimisation strategy designed to unlock additional mineralisation gaps and refine geological models.

Enhanced Geological Understanding Supports Exploration De-Risking

Beyond the immediate resource implications, the assay results from OFMED157 contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the structural controls on the mafic units hosting copper mineralisation. This improved geological insight enables Orion to prioritise targets for future high-impact drilling campaigns, reducing exploration risk and sharpening focus on the most prospective zones.

The company’s ongoing work includes surface magnetics and MT geophysical surveys to identify deeper structures that may have served as conduits for copper emplacement. Such integrated exploration efforts complement the drilling program and aim to delineate further extensions of the mineralised system.

These developments build on recent confirmation drilling that has steadily expanded the resource envelope at Flat Mines, as detailed in previous updates including the recent down-dip extension confirmation. The current drilling momentum follows Orion’s securing of full control of the Okiep Copper Project earlier this year, a milestone that has accelerated exploration and development activities finalises Okiep acquisition.