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April 2017
MODERN MINING
13
MINING News
Orion Gold completes acquisition of Agama
ASX-listed Orion Gold reports it has now
completed the acquisition of Agama
Exploration & Mining (Pty) Ltd, which
holds one of the world’s largest historical
VMS zinc-copper deposits in South Africa’s
Northern Cape Province.
Following the completion of this trans-
action, Orion, through its subsidiary
companies, now holds an effective 73,33 %
interest in the company holding prospect-
ing rights over the historical Prieska copper
mine (PC), located at Copperton in the
Northern Cape and the Marydale gold/cop-
per project, a volcanogenic gold-copper
discovery located 60 km from PC.
The purchase consideration paid on
settlement of the acquisition was R53 mil-
lion, of which R31,5 million was paid in cash
and R21,5 million was paid by issue of Orion
shares. In addition, Orion provided finance
for Agama to enable it to settle all historical
shareholder loans to an aggregate amount
of approximately R33,3 million.
With the acquisition now completed,
Orion says it has embarked on an intensive
growth and development strategy aimed
at establishing the company as a significant
newplayer in the global basemetal sector.
ASX-listed Peak Resources has received the
Environmental Certificate for the Ngualla
rare earth project located north of Mbeya
in Tanzania.
The grant of the Environmental Certi
ficate by the Minister of State of the Vice
President’s Office represents the comple-
tion of a major step in the permitting of
the project. The Environmental Certificate
is a pre-requisite for the granting of a min-
ing licence.
The Environmental Certificate marks the
successful completion of the Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) report. Environ
men t a l r egu l a t o r s , t he Na t i ona l
Environment Management Council (NEMC),
set the guidelines and requirements of the
study that is behind the EIS report, which
was led by Tanzanian environmental con-
sulting specialists Align Environment and
Risk and Paulsam Geoengineering Co Ltd.
The study included multi-disciplined
wet and dry season environmental and
social baseline studies and extensive stake-
Ngualla project receives Environmental Certificate
holder consultation, as well as a site visit
and a review board meeting with NEMC.
Strong support for the development
of the Ngualla rare earth project was
received at a local village, district, regional
and national level during the stakeholder
meetings. The project area has no human
habitation, farming, grazing or reserves.
The BFS remains on track for com-
pletion within the coming weeks. The
Environmental Certificate and a Feasibility
Study are key documents required for an
application for a mining licence, which the
company aims to finalise during Q2 2017.