Welcome, everyone. A very good morning, and thanks very much for joining us. I'm Nicholas Reed from Reed Corporate, and on behalf of Orion Minerals, ASX Code ORN, it's a great pleasure to welcome you to this special investor webinar. I'm really pleased to be able to welcome key members of Orion's senior leadership team to lead this morning's webinar. Joining me here in Perth is Orion's Chairman, Denis Waddell, who's been the driving force behind the company for many years. Joining us from Johannesburg, South Africa, where it's very early in the morning, is Orion's new Managing Director, Tony Lennox. We're very pleased that he's agreed to make a very early start to his day on Friday and to join us on this webinar over here in Australia. The company's Executive Corporate Comms and IR, Avi Nagassar, is also online.
By way of introduction, despite the gyrations that we've seen in copper markets this week, the long-term outlook for the red metal remains incredibly strong. The International Energy Agency has warned that demand for copper is set to outstrip supply by some 30% in the next decade. As veteran mining commentator Barry Fitzgerald wrote in his weekly column this morning, this is already translating into accelerating M&A activity in the copper space on the ASX. We've seen a number of examples of that with copper developers getting snapped up in recent weeks and months. Against this backdrop, Orion Minerals is at a really pivotal stage with the development of its Prieska Copper-Zinc Project in the Northern Cape, along with the second emerging production hub at O'Kiep.
We're very pleased to have the Orion team join us to tell us what's been happening in the company in recent months, and I guess more importantly, what shareholders can look forward to in the months and the years ahead. Before I hand over to Denis and Tony to step us through the slide deck that you can see on screen, just a quick note, this is an interactive session. Once the presentation has concluded, we welcome your questions. We have received a lot of questions online, which we'll deal with as many of those as we can. There is a Q&A tab on your webinar browser on the right-hand side, so please use that. Send your questions in while Denis and Tony are presenting, and we'll make sure that we deal with as many of those as we can. With that, good morning to Tony. Welcome. And Denis, welcome.
Thanks very much for your time. It's great to see you. Please give us an update on what's happening with Orion Minerals.
Thanks very much, Nick. Welcome to all attendees, and thank you for your time today to get an update on Orion. Today we'll provide an overview of Orion's projects and, importantly, the development plans that Tony, our new MD, CEO, has been focused on over the past few months since his appointment. Also, this webinar gives me the opportunity to introduce Tony to you all. The board is delighted that we've been able to secure the appointment of Tony, in particular, where we're at in terms of our development. Having released the DFSs in late March, with Tony's appointment, it's come at a critical time, particularly given Tony's background, his career.
He's developed many operations, successfully managed many operations, but very importantly, this development and execution stage, as many of you would be aware, it is a risk, can be a high-risk time for a smaller company to be developing projects. Having Tony's expertise, and he's put together and is adding to a very strong operational team, which he will discuss with you in the next half hour or so before question time. Just moving on, the normal disclaimer. I'm not going to read that, but please feel free to do so if you would wish to. Just on the company snapshot, again, I won't be going through this in detail. It sets out our capital structure. Importantly, we are listed on both the ASX as a primary listing and the JSE.
From the slide, you can see the shares are held approximately 50-50, but there has been an increasing interest coming out of South Africa, which is very pleasing. We have some 23,000 shareholders in South Africa now. A little unusual that there are so many retail shareholders on the register, but it's very welcomed, obviously, from the board of Orion and the support we're getting from our retail shareholders out of Joburg and South Africa generally. We have a number of significant shareholders who have backed us for many years. That's been ongoing, which is very pleasing. The board, again, very experienced members on the board, and in particular, I think the appointment of Tony, as I mentioned earlier, is very important. I'll just mention also the SPP.
We did a recent capital raise, which is very important as a bridge in finance through to the full funding of the development of, in particular, initially the uppers at Prieska, which Tony will go through, and then transitioning into the deeps, which will then take us to a much higher level of copper-zinc production out of Prieska and then the development of O'Kiep. The SPP, I'll comment on that a little bit later in the presentation. Just moving on, just by way of a sort of an overview, a summary, we got involved in South Africa back in 2017, put together a very significant land package, highly prospective base metal belt in the Northern Cape in South Africa, an amazing mining history. The Prieska mine ran for over 20 years.
Anglovaal operated that mine, recovered over a million tons of zinc and nearly half a million tons of copper. This project, as Tony will point out to you, has enormous upside. It's one of the largest VMS deposits globally, and there's still a lot of upside, which, as I say, Tony will explain to you in a bit more detail through his presentation. In addition to Prieska, you'll see on the right-hand side of the slide, there's also a significant land holding. Regionally, we have very prospective targets, but the focus right now, clearly, is getting Prieska into production. We then, 450 km to the west, another very prospective copper belt at O'Kiep. It's quite staggering when you look at an area like this where over 2 million tons of copper have been recovered in the past by Newmont and Gold Fields.
We were fortunate enough to put this package together. With that sort of endowment and history, we see a lot of upside at O'Kiep. There's been virtually no exploration there until we got involved in the last two or three years, but it's been decades since there's been any serious exploration. We did a SkyTEM airborne mag survey a couple of years ago, and it's just highlighted a number of very prospective targets, which we'll be following up in the period ahead of us and over the next few years. We're looking forward to progressing our fully permitted projects at Prieska and O'Kiep. As Nick mentioned, the demand for copper, the outlook is very strong. There aren't too many companies out there with two fully permitted projects ready to go.
We can literally start turning dirt tomorrow, and we're working through the funding process on that at the moment, which Tony will provide some further detail on. With that, I'll hand over to Tony, and he can provide you with an overview of our plans in the coming months and the next couple of years. Thanks, Tony.
Thank you, Denis, and earlier, thank you, Nick. As Denis said, Orion Minerals has very prospective tenements in the Northern Cape of South Africa. However, on this slide, we've highlighted our two primary prospects. Earlier this year, at the end of March, we completed DFSs for Prieska and the Flat Mines project, which generically is known as O'Kiep. Of the two, the Prieska operation or the Prieska project is clearly our flagship operation. When you have a look at the resources that exist there, the financials that our DFS has delivered, you can see that Prieska stands out as a very appealing project. The whole point of today's discussion is we'll walk you through how we plan to develop both of those projects in the coming years. Thank you very much. As Denis alluded to or mentioned, we have two fully permitted projects.
The flagship one is Prieska, and Prieska is a two-stage project. We have our first stage, which is generically known as the uppers, and then the main game, which is the stage two or phase two, the deeps. There are, undergoing at the moment, a range of funding options in progress to allow us to move to a fully funded position. With the conclusion of the DFSs, the whole agenda is project execution and the approach we will be adopting to that. Having said that, we are of the view that the project execution will deliver concentrate out of the uppers by Christmas 2026. That is a very pleasing position to be in, and we will walk you through that now. Next one. A number of people in the last month or two have asked me, you know, where is Orion Minerals going? Here is where Orion Minerals is going.
It is about funding, which is underway. I mentioned that. It is about project governance. It is about value engineering, and it is about delivering initial concentrate in Christmas of next year and converting Orion Minerals from an exploration and studies organization to a new junior miner in the copper sector. On the left-hand side, you'll see our approach to Prieska, and at present, we have on surface from trial mining in early 2024, about 23,000 tons of stockpiled supergene material, which has come out from our uppers, and that is where we'll be addressing our primary work during the course of the latter portion of this year and next year. It then transitions into a smooth process to open up the deeps, which is a much larger production arena and is where we get into the significant concentrate production. In parallel with the Prieska project is the O'Kiep project.
The board has adopted a position whereby we wish to review and optimize the O'Kiep and improve the metrics. Nevertheless, O'Kiep is very strongly part of it, as Denis has alluded to or stated, there is, you know, huge prospects there. It's a massive upside for the organization. In the DFS, we have focused on the first three deposits, which is the Flat Mine North, Flat Mine East, and South. They are separate deposits, but they all come back to an integrated centralized concentrator for the production of concentrate, copper concentrate. Thank you. Where does that all look on the cost curve? As you can see here, Prieska or PCZM Prieska Copper-Zinc Mines sits well within the first quartile of the global cost curve. The comparative case here is some 380-odd operations around the world. Prieska stands out, as stated earlier.
You know, it's going to be one of the world's or is one of the world's, you know, primary VMS deposits. It stands up there in the same pack as the Bathurst Mining Camp in Canada, Neves-Corvo in Portugal, and the likes of Kidd Creek and Bisha and some of those other ones. The O'Kiep is a different style of resource tenement. As I said, it's discrete ore bodies which come back to a central concentrator. The optimization process will be about moving O'Kiep down the cost curve and targeting to get it down into the second quartile of global producers. That work is already underway with the optimization of O'Kiep. Initial studies show that it's very clearly moving towards second quartile production. Fundamentally, that looks like reducing the capital spend on O'Kiep and moving higher grade production forward in the schedule to accommodate a better NPV on the project.
Thank you. Our funding position is that we have been over the years raising capital SPPs. We do live in the junior miner space, and that is just part and parcel of our world. We have been over the course of the last year or two selecting off-take partners and engaging with those who wish to be part of the future. There are a number of those sitting in our arena at the moment. We have a very strong relationship with the IDC from South Africa, which is a very important and prominent investor in the mining industry. Along the way, we have entered into a facility with the Canadian company Triple Flag Precious Metals, and that facility is in place. Presently, we're in the near term with off-take funding negotiations, which are progressing very well. That is pleasing for the board.
We have conversation underway with the IDC about how we use their funds and draw their funds into the organization and also conversations with Triple Flag, how we get the three cornerstone investors in the property or in the company to move to the fully funded position. As you understand, there's continual equity raising along the way, and that will just be part of it. As we move into the future, we'll have the traditional debt coming in at the appropriate time in our funding cycle. That is an overview of where Orion has come from. What does project execution look like? Where do we go to from here? This is our primary focus for the next year and even further as we open up the deep.
For a handful of years, there's upwards of five years of activity in this arena to unlock the deeps and unlock the tremendous upside that exists in the O'Kiep projects. In essence, projects of this nature, it comes down to skilled people, deliberate processes, and measurable outcomes. That is what I am bringing to the table for Orion Minerals. We have been identifying, I've been identifying a project leadership team that will be the cornerstone of the work underway. We have identified excellent project execution governance. We've already undertaken discussions with differing firms in South Africa and to an extent Australia around what our construction packages will look like. Wrapped in and amongst all, wrapped in behind all of that is the traditional arenas of value engineering as we move through the initial and mid-portions of execution.
As you move through that, there is also the operational readiness dimension, which I've had many years of experience with. Those are fundamental aspects in developing a junior operation or any operation for that matter. I'll talk a little bit more about those and how they will assure a smooth process into producing concentrate by the end of next year. We have been in the process of developing how the structure of Orion will look in the move to an operational company. There are our two primary deposits, the Prieska Copper-Zinc Project and the O'Kiep arena. The whole essence of this is about the project execution team, how that will be done.
There'll be the one group who will sit across the organization, initial focus being Prieska, but also at the same time, slightly on echelon, if you want to use a geological term, with the O'Kiep work, the O'Kiep optimization. In that arena, four key people have been identified: the overall Project Director, Mining Director, Processing Director, and the Governance Advisor. With those four individuals, there's somewhere near 160 years of experience. You add my experience to that, there's another 40 years. In those five key arenas, there's 200 years of underground base metal mining experience. That is the essence of the project execution. You'll also note that operational readiness, value engineering sit there, as well as all your traditional project controls, purchasing, work packages, reporting. There is a steering committee that will sit across and above that at times.
These are fundamental, well-proven, tried and tested approaches for personnel to deliver projects of this nature. When we move into the role of sleeves up and get into that, it's about deliberate process and processes that take. On the left-hand side in this picture, our DFS studies and start converting those into reality on the right-hand side. There are the traditional project arenas, the steering committee, the project definition, senior leaded packages. I've talked about those. Down the bottom, there is an optimization process that we have underway with O'Kiep to improve the metrics. That, as I said, is already underway. Within the work, the value engineering typically delivers somewhere in the arena of 5%- 10% improvement on your capital from the DFS. That will be a very deliberate, purposeful process within our execution arena.
The other one that I've touched on is also the operational readiness scheme, and that is about processes and systems that mitigate value erosion as a project comes online. I'm sure many of you have been associated with watching projects that run behind time and have a very poor ramp-up to nameplate capacity. On the right-hand side there, the main game for Prieska is that concentrate profile, which shows the uppers at the outset, the zinc concentrate, the copper concentrate, and having those come up to speed in a very predictable, reliable manner with ownership from the people and the operational teams that will carry Prieska off into the future as a steady-state mining company. The same applies for O'Kiep as well. Measurable outcomes, that's what it looks like there.
It is about having a clearly marked out schedule integrated from phase one to phase two for Prieska in this instance here. Concentrate from Orion by Christmas 2026 is the target there, the agenda. If you note, a few of the comments on the left-hand side have asterisks. We have already started value engineering work on those arenas. For example, the boot concentrator at Orion is at Prieska, I should say. There is work underway about delivering an improved position. The important thing with the value engineering, it is functionality over cost. It is a skilled arena. It is a deliberate arena whereby you achieve the same functionality for a more effective cost structure. Thank you for your time. This is the agenda we are pursuing and concentrate by Christmas 2026. Thank you.
Fantastic. Thanks very much, Tony and Denis, for that run-through. We do have a lot of questions that have come through certainly beforehand. Also, a reminder to people that are tuned in, if you would like to ask something using the online portal, just click on the right-hand side of your webinar browser. Let's get into it. I'll try and avoid an overlap as far as I can, but apologies if we do sort of go over the same ground in a couple of places. We had a shareholder that sent a list of questions in beforehand. The first one is, the quarterly says that you'll be able, you're aiming to be producing concentrate from the uppers 30 months after finalizing funding. You've just said in your presentation that you're targeting first concentrate by December 2026. He says this implies that funding will be finalized by no later than October.
Is that a correct assumption?
Yes, we are heavily engaged with a number of parties. Clearly, there's parties that are more preferred, that is well advanced, and we see that we'll be making announcements by that period of time with a fully funded proposition.
Excellent. Tony, is the scope of the project financing currently under discussion just confined to the uppers, or will it include the full scope of Prieska, including the deeps?
There is the phased approach. As the funding profile shows, there will be ongoing work with funding for us. The Prieska project has a peak capital requirement of AUD 578 million. The uppers require AUD 50 million to get underway and another AUD 20 million for initial ongoing works around dewatering and shaft refurbishment. You know, take the 580 round figures, less 70, so there's still another 500 to be drawn down, addressed in the fully funded proposition. That work is underway.
Okay, excellent. There's another question from a shareholder here who says that he's glad to see there's lots of design work and value engineering continuing on Prieska. Will that result in an updated DFS, and will that be complete ahead of the off-takes and finalization of the funding?
Could you just repeat that, Nick, a little bit?
Essentially, is there a need for another DFS update before you finalize off-take and funding?
We'll be. The DFS is there. It provides a sufficient foundation for us to move into execution, and there won't be more studies. It'll be about moving into execution and using those key arenas of value engineering and operational readiness to adjust as we move through the execution phase. We will be coming back to market from time to time to update our investors on how those processes are going.
Excellent. We'll just jump to an online question here. An analyst has asked, you've mentioned some early capital cost savings that have been identified from the value engineering work underway. Can you please elaborate a little on those?
Yes, look, it is, you know, we're barely out of the starting blocks in the last month or two. Good value engineering, which is contained within our project team, delivers, some people say, upwards of 10%. My experience, somewhere between 5%- 10%. On a capital spend or a DFS study of just shy of AUD 600 million peak capital, you can do the numbers yourself. That will be the arena of which we're looking at for cost savings, upwards of 10% on that and relatively straightforward.
Excellent. We might go to, there's a few questions about the current SPP and the capital raise, so we might deal with those now and might bring Denis in on a few of these as well. The first question here is, and it's a fair one from shareholders, can we expect any news flow before the SPP closes? You know, I guess looking at the current pricing of the SPP. Denis, do you want to perhaps jump in on that one?
Yeah, sure, Nick. Look, as I'm sure everyone on the call would be aware, we've had a recent share placement, which is, we view that as a bridging finance position. Importantly, though, we've always taken the view that shareholders have backed us. If you look at the SPP participation last year, it was very strong and important, and we don't take it for granted. Clearly, there's been some disappointment with the delays that occurred with the DFSs. That is something that's behind us. We've had to deal with that. We appreciate some of the frustration from a lot of shareholders, but we also recognize that there's a lot of leverage right now. The fact that the stock price has fallen on the back of those delays and so forth.
We want to make sure that all those parties are at least given the same opportunity as some of the larger shareholders. Every shareholder is important as far as the board is concerned. We make a particular point of ensuring that that opportunity is there. Therefore, we've opened up the SPP again this year, understanding that some people won't want to participate. There's some frustration. Equally, though, there's very significant leverage now. If you look at our market cap relative to a number of other emerging copper producers, zinc producers, we're certainly in the lower quartile and not where you want to be in terms of valuation. There is very significant leverage. A number of our shareholders have put in significant funds. I've just committed another AUD 500,000 to the process. Clearly, that demonstrates my belief and view on value.
I think there's, I'm not doing that for any other reason than one, backing the company, but also I see that it's, from my personal perspective, a very good investment. In terms of information into the market, the process we're going through on funding, we are talking of staged funding, but we are talking about some significant amounts. The off-take parties we're talking with, there's a lot of due diligence. There's a lot of drafting of term sheets leading into full contractual positions. We were hopeful of getting some more information into the market. Really, we will certainly be putting information into the market as and when it's available. The timing of that, we can't predict really. Some of it's out of our control. The IDC and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa are very supportive. They're pushing hard for us to get on with it.
We need to complement that funding with off-take funding and then discussions with Triple Flag for the stream funding. There's a huge amount of work going on at the moment. To the extent we're able to, we will be putting further information into the market. We are advancing very well on that front. We're confident we will get there. Just in terms of the SPP, it's only we made a decision today. We did a similar presentation yesterday into South Africa, and there are a number of interested parties who have commented as to whether we could extend it. We made a decision last night. We just announced this morning that the SPP has been extended by a week. If we're able to get further information into the market, we will.
As I said, we can't predict that other than we will make every effort to put something out if we're able to. All I can really say is that there is a lot of work going on in the background. We're pleased the way it's progressing. Obviously, our hands are tied. We can't put anything out until we're in a position to do so. That's how we stand at the moment.
Okay, thanks, Denis. That's extended for a week. That's an important update for shareholders there. Just on the current capital raise, there's been a few people who have asked how long would this current funding round last? Is it possible to put any sort of data around?
Yeah, I mentioned, you know, we've got, we see this as a bridging position. It's a bit of a balancing act, Nick, in terms of the number of shares we issue at these current levels. It's not ideal. It's important to bridge us through to the more significant amounts that will come out of the parties we've already mentioned. We see this, as Tony mentioned earlier, the sort of September, October, we'll certainly get funded through to the end of the year based on, and also depends on what is raised out of the SPP. We're comfortable that we've got sufficient funding now to get us through to the point where we've got executed documents with the other funders. As I mentioned, IDC, they're very keen to get on with it.
Documentation always takes time, but we've got a few months ahead of us now to, in a very orderly manner, put these things to bed and then move forward from there.
Yeah, that sounds good. Just before we get back into some project questions, Denis, just another quick one. A lot of shareholders have asked about the odd chestnut of the share consolidation. It's come up before on many occasions. What's your view? Obviously, the perception that how do we get out of this sort of penny stock situation and, I guess, elevate the perception of the company given that you're moving it into production? Has that been considered, the stock consolidation?
Yeah, sure. Look, clearly it's not ideal, our capital structure. Anyone who's been in the market looks at these consolidations, and it can be a positive thing, but it also can be negative. I mean, for us, the intention is to consolidate at some point in time. What we would like to do, and no decision's been made right now, obviously. We can't, maybe careful what we say here, but I think it's an obvious thing to do at the appropriate time. I think, without going into too much detail, the timing for us, certainly my view, and something the board would make a decision on, but my position on this is that you want to align it with something that just underpins where we're going to, in terms of funding.
The backers that may come in, there are multiple parties in the data room, from a funding perspective and potential further investment. We will consider it very seriously and at the appropriate time, we would look at instigating a consolidation, but right now it's still open-ended.
Excellent. Thanks, Denis. Tony, I might go back to you. There's an interesting question here from a shareholder. He says that Orion's got two main projects, clearly Prieska and O'Kiep. Which of these do you think will yield a better return? It'd be interesting to get your take. You know, you're relatively new to the company. Just your perception of the two assets and what their sort of longer term, I guess, upside potential is.
Yeah, it is a wonderful situation to have two excellent projects. They're in the same region, but they're somewhat different in nature. Coming into Orion, and, you know, having a close look at what exists at Prieska, it was a fabulous producer a number of years ago, and it will be a fabulous producer in the future because it is one of the world's, you know, true namesake VMS deposits. Pleasingly, when you have a look at the numbers on the project Prieska, for example, it sits very comfortably in the first quartile of copper producers. It has a very significant zinc position as well, along with precious metals, gold and silver. It shows a very, very pleasing position. As I said, Bathurst Mining Camp just being one example of the sort of VMS deposits it has.
You look across the province to Springbok or O'Kiep and see, you know, a region, another copper producing region over many years produced a tremendous amount of copper. To then have targets, you know, the targets that exist in the O'Kiep region are, you know, well in the high teens. We've just identified the first three. It is great. You've got the choice between, you know, Mercedes, BMW, what sort of car do you want to go? The pleasing thing with the DFS was it highlighted the absolute strength and robustness of Prieska. You know, it is a large underground VMS. It is the better part of 3 km in the strike and 1.5 km across. It's got ample elbow space to work properly, to work efficiently.
It is a shaft operation, but there are very successful shaft and decline operations around the world, Cannington being one to mention, and I've mentioned the others overseas, Kidd Creek, etc. The O'Kiep one, you know, it's more consistent with the West Australian gold industry, discrete deposits back to a central facility. The grades that are coming out of these projects, you know, they're both well over 1% copper. If you do a comparison with some of the, you know, there's a lot of press around the world about the big, low-grade porphyries that exist. They have very large capital intensities to get them up and running. Both Prieska and O'Kiep are barely half the capital intensity to get them running. You know, just on that basis, then you add Prieska's operating position in the first quartile. You say, you know, a very fabulous deposit to have in your portfolio.
Yes, being in the mining industry some 40 years now, I've seen that every so often you do need to optimize deposits. That is the work we've got underway with O'Kiep. I'm quite certain that will get itself into a very solid second quartile position. As we open up more resources in there, over the course of time, we will see our resource base grow and then the whole proposition just gets better.
Thanks very much, Tony.
Nick, just a quick comment on that. Just for reference, in the quarterly we just released, I'll draw attendees' attention to the fact that there are a couple of slides in there which show the upside at Prieska and also at O'Kiep. You know, we've got 30-odd million tons in the resource at the moment. It really highlights, and we've done a fair bit of work on this in the last couple of months, there's a very significant upside. Getting back to the particular question, there's a lot of upside at Prieska, which are highlighted in a couple of those slides. For example, at the end of the 2.6 km, 2.8 km southeastern extension, the perimeters of the ore body at the moment, we've got our highest grade intersection, highest width, and we've done downhole EM, and there's a very big conductor sitting underneath it.
Now that's clearly an extension to the southeast. We've got extensions up dip as well. You can have a look at that slide. Getting back to that particular question, we can see many, many more years of production coming out of Prieska. As we dewater and get down to the deeper levels, it becomes far more cost-effective to drill from underground. We'll put drill drives in. In fact, there are a number already there, which we will tap into immediately we get access. Then at O'Kiep, you look at the history of O'Kiep, some of the deposits that were mined there by Newmont and Gold Fields are staggering, + 20% top copper numbers. We've got analogous targets to those that we will be pursuing in the relatively near term, but certainly over the next couple of years, the exploration upside at O'Kiep is very, very high.
We value and rate both projects very highly in that regard.
It's a good segue into this next question because you've both said, you've alluded to the grade of both projects relative to porphyries and, you know, some of the other major projects in the world in that significantly higher. The question is, will Orion copper, because of that grade, will you qualify for higher, for better pricing than other lower grade producers from the concentrates that you produce?
The DFS, I look at Prieska, a large portion of the DFS because the last study that was done on Prieska, you know, it was, you know, a few years back, 2021, May 21. It is about de-risking the project and taking out, you know, the aspects that give people cause for concern. It has been substantially de-risked during the course of late last year and early this year. The marketing section in that DFS does point to a very good space for net smelter returns. As we engage with off-take partners, we are finding that the DFS is on target with where the conversations with net smelter returns are. The grade of Prieska, you know, it's a wonderful grade, 1.2% copper, 3.6% zinc, rough figures there in the slide pack there.
It allows us to produce the uppers will be a bulk concentrate, which we've got interest in the market, and that is very, very pleasing. When we get to the deeps, it'll be a very traditional clean copper concentrate, zinc concentrate, and when O'Kiep produces a very sweet, pure copper concentrate as well. When we look at those, the grades and the copper cons that are coming out, they are completely in line. Sorry, and then we go to the market. Our DFS is completely in line with the market and where we're aiming to position our sales.
Excellent. Thanks, Tony. There's quite a detailed question here from an investor about, and the question is, has the board considered pursuing a toll treatment or rental agreement with Copper 360's existing SXEW production plant near O'Kiep for initial processing of O'Kiep? I won't read the whole question, but essentially the investors are asking whether that could help reduce upfront CapEx, production, reduce execution risk, and unlock synergies.
Look, the new CEO to Copper 360, you know, I know him, Graham Brix, from my days when I was at Palabora Mining Company, sitting on the Chamber of Mines in South Africa. We are neighbors in the O'Kiep area. Graham and I have been in touch. We'll sit down and, at the appropriate time, have a coffee and see whether there is value for Orion shareholders in the future and whether there's value for Copper 360. We fully recognize we are shoulder to shoulder up there. We do well, Copper 360 does well. It just adds to the value that exists up around Springbok and Upper Biebouwkop. I know we will be in touch with one another.
Excellent. Watch this space. I think we're in the home straight. Just a couple more, which I'll quickly deal with. There's a question here about, I guess, the ramp-up timing. On the basis that you're looking at first concentrate in 2026, I think the intent of this question is broadly how long it would take before the initial operation would ramp up and sort of start generating, I guess, positive cash flow, I think is the intent of the question here.
Yeah, once again, the operational readiness, do not dismiss that lightly. That is a very important aspect of our work. I would argue it's a very important aspect for many other organizations as well. The uppers has been accessed for many years. It has sat there open for the last 30 years, so the work in getting into the uppers is by comparison reasonably minimal. There's a bit of resupporting, a bit of stripping here and there if you dive into the underground sense, but by no means onerous and difficult at all. We are looking to top-tier organizations to come along and do that work. We are adopting a contracting leadership with our own workforce approach, and that has been proven around South Africa. The boot concentrator, when you do a dimensional analysis on it, is about 25 ton an hour of feed throughput.
The uppers is 240,000 ton of run-of-mine feed per annum, so not large, but it converts Orion to a mining company. When you move to the deeps, that is 2.4 million, so there's a tenfold uplift in the deeps where the main game is. That is why this operational readiness is an important arena for us. The scheduling in that last slide is about a smooth transition from our starting position to the higher production level of the deeps. To get concentrate by 2026 next year, that is not particularly difficult. The size of the plant is not enormous, and with the processing director, he is a very experienced individual. We are fortunate to be importing considerable skills. He's a base metal specialist. He's worked open cut and underground. He's actually worked at a few of the deposits I've mentioned.
I wouldn't say watch this space, but very confident in the high-end ability he will be bringing into Orion.
Fantastic. Just a couple more, and I think we're there. There's a few M&A related questions here, and I'll just try and sort of summarize them. We've seen obviously some M&A action on the ASX and those copper developers. We've seen Harmony from South Africa buying Mac Copper. We've seen New World Resources, Xanadu Mines, you know, sort of junior copper developers getting snapped up. The intent, I think, of these questions is, have you had any interest from larger companies given the stage that you're at? I guess what would the company's view be? You know, it's been quite a long journey for shareholders. Would you entertain those sorts of discussions, or are you focused on sort of going it alone from here?
Nick, let me just start by saying, yes, there is interest from majors. I'll hand over to Denis to add to where we'll position ourselves. It's very much horses for courses, but there is interest. Denis.
Yeah, thanks, Tony. Look, there is, but our clear objective is to get into production. I think that's going to position us much better to attract larger mining houses. We have actually been through a number of processes over recent years, with some frustration, that there's been interest expressed and then parties come in and have a look. Over that period, we were nowhere near as advanced as we are now. When Tony got involved, more so later last year and then into this year, Tony's introduced some really highly skilled and talented executives and consultants who have worked with us to de-risk, particularly Prieska at this stage. We're going through a similar process now with O'Kiep, but the work that was undertaken at Prieska, we've de-risked significantly.
I think anyone who now comes into the data room, and there are parties that have approached us, we're very confident that everything will stack up very strongly. There's a lot of detail in there now. There's been a lot of other areas identified that Tony alluded to that we feel we can look at, improvements, capital, cost reduction, and so forth. The way we're approaching it is that we have to focus on the job. We're going to develop these projects regardless. We're exposed like anyone else to any party wanting to speak to us or have a crack at us. We would welcome some larger companies to come in, either as an investor initially or if they were interested in making an offer to take us out.
We're not going to get bogged down and waste time as we have in the past and then parties just sit back and wait and see where you land thinking, well, we're on our knees. We're going forward very positively. We've got the team to deliver. That's our focus. If other parties wish to take it further, that's their business. We will certainly entertain it. All we're interested in is adding as much value as possible for shareholders. Where it lands, who knows? We want to position the company as strongly as possible that if anyone does come in, they're going to have to pay a decent price for us.
Fantastic. Anything you'd like to add, Tony?
The whole agenda is, as Denis alluded to, it's about getting into production. It's about positioning. You know, the cost curves give you an indicator. Positioning ourselves strongly at the lower end of the cost cycle so that we can ride out the ups and downs over time. It's about developing our projects deliberately, purposefully, measurably, and looking after our shareholders' funds. The whole project governance is very heavily weighted to our shareholders' well-being and delivering, as we say, we shall.
Fantastic. I think I might just paraphrase the last couple of questions and just get a final word from each of you, and we'll wrap things up. A number of shareholders have raised the issue of the companies having to do lots of short-term capital raises. It's been a tough journey in many respects, but it really does sound like you're at a sort of a key inflection point with a certain certainty of execution, a certainty of the studies and all the work that's been put in, and the only missing ingredient has been financing. It sounds like that's now very much around the corner with the off-take discussion. Perhaps if I just get some final thoughts from both of you on why Orion Minerals is a good opportunity from here moving forward.
Just a quick comment from me. I think Tony's appointment is really important, you know, to provide some comfort to investors, and in particular off-take parties, IDC, Triple Flag. They are very focused on delivery. They want to know the execution team, you know, how are we going to deliver? Tony's put together a very strong team. We've got a number of people literally waiting for appointment. That's going to be linked to funding, but they're very keen to come on board. A lot of them have worked with Tony previously in South Africa, at Palabora, and elsewhere. We have other parties that we're drawing on that Tony's worked with previously. For us, look, it's been really frustrating. I think it's sort of a, from the Australian perspective, you know, South Africa is not an ideal destination. Often it's underestimated.
There's an incredible history of mining in South Africa, and there's a hell of a lot of expertise. As Tony said, we just need to get concentrate on the deck. You know, once we prove that we can mine, there's been very successful mines in South Africa. I think we're now in a position where, you know, the quality of the work that's been completed on the DFSs and the optimization work that's been undertaken, the value engineering, the execution process, we've never been better placed. I mentioned right from the outset, we have two fully permitted projects. There's not many of them around the world at the moment. It is frustrating, but we are experiencing interest corporately, off-take parties, Triple Flag, IDC. We've got a sense that things are building and the support will be there. We've got the team to do it up.
I think it's the best we've been placed for some time. We're obviously very hopeful and optimistic that we will be able to deliver and finally deliver upside for shareholders.
Thanks, Denis. Tony, some final words from you?
Thank you, Nick. Funding is important. When that is finalized, the agenda is execution. It is about the people who execute for you and with you. We have been able to draw together a rather excellent group of people who are completely committed to Orion. They want to be part of this journey. They want to have the enjoyment of seeing bringing another, you know, brownfields, greenfields proposition to fruition and putting concentrate on the ground. That is when we start to pay back to our investors and our shareholders. Everyone involved in Prieska at the moment is very much aware of that and keen to roll up their sleeves and get underway with it. We know the processes, we know the work, we've done this before, and that is why I'm very confident with the information that's been presented here today.
Thanks very much. I think we'll wrap it up. I think we've dealt with most of the questions both online and the ones that came through via email. I'll just finish off by thanking Tony for making himself available so early in the morning. You're off to a very early start over there. Thank you to Denis Waddell for coming in and chatting to us today. To both gentlemen, thanks very much. To everyone who tuned in, we appreciate your participation and questions. If you do have any follow-up questions, please reach out to us or to Avi or the Orion team, and I'm sure they'd be happy to deal with them. Thanks for your time. We'll make a recording of this available in the next day or so, and we look forward to keeping you informed about the Orion story as it moves forward. Thanks for joining us.
Enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a great weekend.
Thanks, thank you, Nick.
Thanks to Reed Corporate, cheers mate.