Wrap Text
Orion Exclusivity for Northern Cape Battery Metal Refinery
Orion Minerals Limited
Incorporated in the Commonwealth of Australia
Australian Company Number 098 939 274
ASX share code: ORN
JSE share code: ORN
ISIN: AU000000ORN1
Orion signs exclusivity agreement for the development of a specialist battery product refining facility in
the Northern Cape
Term sheet signed with Stratega Metals to investigate the use of its licenced refining technology to
produce specialist battery precursor products
- Term sheet signed with Stratega Metals, providing Orion with binding exclusivity to undertake
amenability test work on a 250kg sample of Ni-Cu-Co-PGE-Au concentrates from its Jacomynspan
Nickel-PGE Project in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province.
- Orion has the exclusive right to enter into an earn-in agreement to earn a 75% interest in Stratega by
funding construction of a demonstration-scale refinery.
- Stratega holds an exclusive licensing agreement to use TCM Research’s suite of proprietary vapour
metallurgical technologies (including advanced carbonylation and chlorination techniques) for base
metal refining in the Northern Cape.
- Stratega/TCM technology offers the potential to both increased total metal recovery and the payability
of metals-in-concentrate produced from polymetallic sulphide ores, such as Orion’s Jacomynspan
Project, Prieska Copper-Zinc Mine and Okiep Copper Project.
- Value-added metal products (including Carbonyl Nickel Powders) produced by the TCM process –
commonly referred to as “battery precursor products” – can trade at a considerable premium to spot
metal prices.
Orion’s Managing Director and CEO, Errol Smart, commented:
“We are thrilled to have secured exclusive access to what we believe could be game-changing refining
technology for the production of battery metal salts and fine carbonyl powders, both of which are experiencing
surging demand within the burgeoning battery manufacturing sector. The battery materials sector is a key focus
for Orion due to its strong growth outlook and its pivotal role in driving reduced global carbon emissions.
“Not only is the Stratega/TCM refining process able to produce premium metal products, the process also has
low environmental impact and is well-suited for the use of clean, renewable energy. The process comprises a
chemical vapour technology that does not consume any water, has low energy consumption, produces close
to zero emissions and occupies a very small surface area.
“These characteristics make it an ideal fit with Orion’s ambitions to become a fully-integrated mining and
processing business that produces premium metal products with strong ESG credentials that are certified from
point-of-source to market.”
Orion Minerals Limited (ASX/JSE: ORN) (Orion or the Company) is pleased to announce a significant development
in its strategy to create a fully-integrated base metal mining and processing business, producing high-value
metals for the fast-growing battery materials sector, achieved through entering into a Term Sheet that could see
it acquire a cornerstone interest in a future base metal refining facility in the Northern Cape region of South Africa.
The Term Sheet contains binding exclusivity arrangements through which Stratega Metals (Pty) Ltd (Stratega) will
undertake technical due diligence, including amenability test work, for the use of carbo-chloro metal vapour
extraction technology (CCMVT) for base metal refining of polymetallic concentrates produced from Orion’s
Northern Cape projects.
Orion Minerals Limited www.orionminerals.com.au
Incorporated in the Commonwealth of Australia
Suite 617, 530 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 ASX Code: ORN
ACN: 098 939 274 JSE Code: ORN
Ordinary shares on issue: 4,382m I Options on issue: 232m ISIN: AU000000ORN1
During this 90-day exclusivity period, Orion is entitled to conduct amenability test work and due diligence, and
during which Stratega and Orion may enter into a comprehensive earn-in agreement under which Orion may
earn a 75-percent ownership in Stratega, by funding the establishment of a bespoke test work facility and
demonstration plant, to be located at Orion’s Prieska Copper-Zinc Mine site.
Stratega has secured licencing from TCM Research Ltd (TCM Research) to use TCM Research’s proprietary
CCMVT technology. The CCMVT refining process promises very attractive characteristics including:
- A dry process using no water;
- Low energy consumption amenable to renewable energy power supply;
- Near zero immisions – only minor non-toxic waste products;
- Small compact plant with very small footprint; and
- Production of metal products that trade at significant premiums to contained metal targeting the battery
and specialist chemical industries.
The CCMVT process is a derived from the modification of well-established refining technology used at refineries
such as Vale’s Sudbury Refinery in Canada, Norilsk Nickel Refinery in Russia and Jinchuan Metals in China. The
key reaction in CCMVT uses carbonyl (carbon monoxide), which is harvested from air and recycled within a
sealed, pressurised reactor vessel and circuit then feeding to distillation vessels to recover seperated refined
carbonyl metal powders.
The enabling process engineering has become more accessable in recent decades due to the growth of the
petrochmical industry that used the same apperatus and process management technology.
Figure 1: Carbonyl nickel refining process.
About Stratega Metals
Stratega Metals is a corporate vehicle formed to provide specialised project management for the design,
construction and operation of metal vapour process metal refineries, using both the in house IP of the Stratega
principals and licenced IP sourced from TCM Research and other IP providers. Stratega’s specialist chemical
engineering management operations are integrated with a product and market development function, with
the objective of producing specialist metal powders and battery metals that are certified to the highest
standards of ESG compliance from mine face to point of sale
The principals of Stratega Metals are Zoran Marinkovic and Vred von Ketelhodt.
Zoran is a Chemical Engineer and has over 35 years of international experience leading projects that enable the
devlopment and implimentation of novel processing technologies on an industrial scale. Zoran is a former
Director of HDPE at Petrochemical Complex in Yugoslavia. He is also a former director of Sylvania Platinum plc
and Ironveld plc, where he was responsible for technical strategy and project implementation. Zoran is well
known in South Africa for his role in identifying and developing the metallurgical process to extract platinum
group metals from chrome ore and tailings from the Bushveld Complex, Zoran has also piloted, managed and
lead numerous projects in the Metal Vapor Extraction Technology space specifically targeting strategic, critical
and battery metals.
Vred has over 30 years experience in the global metals and mining sector working as both a Mining Engineer
and Corporate Finance professional. As former CFO at Ironveld plc and former Head of Corporate Finance at
Kumba Iron Ore Limited, Vred became proficient in all aspects of project finance.
About TCM Research
TCM Research principals; Colwyn van der Linde and Dmitri Terekhov have 50 years’ combined experience in the
metallurgical processing and chemicals industries, with a strong track record of introducing new technologies
and products to international markets.
TCM Research Ltd is a company established in the Republic of Ireland, with representation in Canada and South
Africa, and has been established to develop, apply and commercialise a suite of Vapour Metallurgy, processing
and manufacturing technologies that are innovative, environmentally responsible, and commercially highly
competitive, adding value exponentially beyond their cost.
TCM Research is a proud member of ‘The European Raw Materials Alliance’ https://erma.eu ‘ERMA’s vision is to
secure access to critical and strategic raw materials, advanced materials, and processing know-how for EU
Industrial Ecosystems. The alliance will involve all relevant stakeholders, including industrial actors along the value
chain, Member States and regions, trade unions, civil society, research and technology organisations, investors
and NGOs.
Some recent and current TCM projects:
- Preliminary Economic Evaluation for an integrated Rare Earth Elements Extraction Facility in Africa.
- Scoping Study for recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Fly Ash and other industrial waste streams in the
USA.
- Scoping Studies for the extraction and refining of Tantalum, Niobium, Tin and Tungsten from multiple
sources in Africa, Australia and South America.
- Pre-feasibility Study for valorization of slag from Highveld Steel and Vanadium in South Africa.
- Pilot Plant and Pre-Feasibility Studies for Proprietary refractory Gold/Polymetallic process in USA, Canada
and South Africa.
- Concept Design - Metals 3D Printing Process for Earth and Space Applications.
- Scoping Study for proprietary low grade Tin extraction and refining process.
- Pre-feasibility Study and Metallurgical Testwork for the extraction and refining of Vanadium, Iron and
Titanium from Vanadiferous Magnetite, in South Africa.
- Pre-feasibility Study for a Tantalum (and associated metals) Refinery, in Namibia.
- Pre-commercialization prototype testing for an integrated Metals and Alloys Additive Manufacturing
Process.
For and on behalf of the Board.
Errol Smart
Managing Director and CEO
9 May 2022
ENQUIRIES
Investors Media JSE Sponsor
Errol Smart – Managing Director & CEO Nicholas Read Monique Martinez
Denis Waddell – Chairman Read Corporate, Australia Merchantec Capital
T: +61 (0) 3 8080 7170 T: +61 (0) 419 929 046 T: +27 (0) 11 325 6363
E: info@orionminerals.com.au E: nicholas@readcorporate.com.au E: monique@merchantec.co.za
Disclaimer
This release may include forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements may include, among other things,
statements regarding targets, estimates and assumptions in respect of metal production and prices, operating costs and
results, capital expenditures, mineral reserves and mineral resources and anticipated grades and recovery rates, and are or
may be based on assumptions and estimates related to future technical, economic, market, political, social and other
conditions. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and beliefs concerning future
events. Forward-looking statements inherently involve subjective judgement and analysis and are necessarily subject to risks,
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materially from those expressed in this release. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance
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Date: 09-05-2022 07:43:00
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