The Orion EU Critical Minerals Project is located in Jaén Province, Andalucía, Southern Spain. The Project includes 756 Spanish mining units (cuadrículas mineras) covering an area of 228km2.
- Project located in Jaén Province, Andalucía, Southern Spain
- 756 “cuadrículas mineras” covering an area of ~228km2
- A lithified placer sand geological system with various layers rich in three future facing / critical minerals with high grade potential:
- Rutile (Titanium)
- Zircon / Hafnium
- Rare Earths (Monazite hosted)
- Silicon Metal
- Unsuccessfully explored for uranium and thorium in the 1950’s and 1960’s
- Initial target areas are outcropping with significant scale potential
- Three target areas identified over a distance of 12kms
- Historic galena (lead) mine in permit area located directly below mineralised outcrops
- Geological mapping has confirmed broad mineralised outcrops through the majority of the permitted area
Map showing Orion EU Critical Minerals Project location
High-Grade Potential
High-grade potential with samples delivering 45% Total heavy minerals (THM) including rutile (titanium), zircon, hafnium and rare earth elements, including magnetic rare earth oxides (Neodymium, Praseodymium, Terbium and Dysprosium).
Table 1: Table showing all assay results from 2020 rock chip channel sampling program averaging 500g each
| TiO2 | ZrO2 | HfO2 | Nd2O3 | Pr2O3 | Tb4O7 | Dy2O3 | |
| Sample Code | % | % | ppm | ppm | ppm | ppm | ppm |
| AV-1 | 19.00 | 6.57 | 1,539 | 2,193 | 616 | 31 | 149 |
| AV-2 | 19.05 | 6.54 | 1,403 | 1,971 | 506 | 27 | 135 |
| AV-3 | 15.15 | 6.10 | 1,327 | 2,059 | 547 | 30 | 144 |
| AV-4 | 13.85 | 5.05 | 1,123 | 1,697 | 432 | 23 | 108 |
| AV-5 | 11.95 | 3.67 | 787 | 1,201 | 315 | 16 | 78 |
| AV-6 | 12.20 | 4.34 | 894 | 1,277 | 328 | 19 | 93 |
| AV-7 | 18.25 | 5.42 | 1,144 | 1,371 | 350 | 20 | 98 |
| AV-8 | 24.40 | 9.70 | 2,353 | 3,383 | 868 | 41 | 195 |
| AV-9 | 19.10 | 7.50 | 1,598 | 2,531 | 697 | 33 | 162 |
| AV-10 | >30.0 | 10.90 | 2,618 | 2,683 | 769 | 36 | 173 |
| AV-11 | 15.30 | 4.11 | 938 | 1,283 | 318 | 20 | 98 |
| AV-12 | 14.55 | 4.08 | 954 | 1,266 | 327 | 19 | 95 |
| AV-13 | 14.45 | 6.24 | 1,362 | 2,164 | 607 | 31 | 149 |
| AV-14 | 13.85 | 3.88 | 834 | 1,201 | 309 | 17 | 88 |
| AV-N1 | 9.11 | 3.28 | 735 | 924 | 240 | 12 | 61 |
| AV-N2 | 11.45 | 4.76 | 1,041 | 1,540 | 394 | 23 | 107 |
Photo showing AV-9 sample area
*Refer ASX Release dated 6 September 2024
High-Value Potential
- Confirmation of high-grade potential from comprehensive 2024 sampling
- The Company is targeting a primary high-grade seam that it believes will be prevalent in all three zones.
- Bulk rock chip channel samples from this primary seam confirm high-grade assemblage.
Photo showing selected outcrops and geological interception of potential seam in Zone 1
High-Tonnage Potential
- 228km2 permit area
- Three target zones
- Mineralised outcrops over 12km distance
- Two interpreted pervasive seams
Map showing three Target Zone areas and mineralized outcrops within the Permit Boundary
EU Critical Minerals Focus
EU Critical Minerals Act – 11 April 2024
Key Points
- 1. Aim is to reduce dependence on countries outside of the EU for critical materials / minerals
- 2. Objective by 2030
- i. EU Extraction: At least 10% of EU annual consumption from EU
- ii. EU Processing: At least 40% of EU annual consumption from EU
- iii. EU Recycling: At least 25% of the EU’s annual consumption from domestic recycling
- iv. External Sources: not more than 65% of the EU’s annual consumption of each strategic raw material at any relevant stage of processing from a single third country
- 3. Maximum of 27 months permitting timetable for Strategic Projects involving extraction
- 4. Single point of contact for all things permitting.
| 1 | Aluminium/Bauxite/Alumina | 18 | Germanium |
| 2 | Coking Coal | 19 | Natural Graphite |
| 3 | Lithium | 20 | Tantalum |
| 4 | Phosphorus | 21 | Bismuth |
| 5 | Antimony | 22 | Hafnium |
| 6 | Feldspar | 23 | Niobium |
| 7 | Light rare earth elements* | 24 | Titanium metal |
| 8 | Scandium | 25 | Boron |
| 9 | Arsenic | 26 | Helium |
| 10 | Fluorspar | 27 | Platinum group metals |
| 11 | Magnesium | 28 | Tungsten |
| 12 | Silicon metal | 29 | Cobalt |
| 13 | Baryte | 30 | Heavy rare earth elements* |
| 14 | Gallium | 31 | Phosphate Rock |
| 15 | Manganese | 32 | Vanadium |
| 16 | Strontium | 33 | Copper |
| 17 | Beryllium | 34 | Nickel |
| 1 | Bauxite/Alumina/Aluminium |
| 2 | Bismuth |
| 3 | Boron — metallurgy grade |
| 4 | Cobalt |
| 5 | Copper |
| 6 | Gallium |
| 7 | Germanium |
| 8 | Lithium — battery grade |
| 9 | Magnesium metal |
| 10 | Manganese — battery grade |
| 11 | Graphite — battery grade |
| 12 | Nickel — battery grade |
| 13 | Platinum group metals |
| 14 | Rare earth elements for permanent magnets (Nd, Pr, Tb, Dy, Gd, Sm, and Ce) |
| 15 | Silicon metal |
| 16 | Titanium metal |
| 17 | Tungsten |
Critical future facing minerals with major EU Supply Risk
Critical future facing minerals with major EU Supply Risk
EU Consumption*
EU Production
Titanium
(TiO2 eq)
~547k tpa
Nil or Negligible European Extraction
Rare Earths
(Nd,Pr,Tb,Dy)
~32k tpa
Nil or Negligible European Extraction
Zircon
~176k tpa
Nil or Negligible European Extraction
Hafnium
~13.6k tpa
Nil or Negligible European Extraction
Main extraction (mining) sources of Critical Minerals relied on by the EU
Source: EU Consumption – SCRREEN Factsheets CRMS 2023 / EU Production – USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024.
*Demand in metric tonnes, 2016-2020 average, 20% added for GDP rises.
*Demand in metric tonnes, 2016-2020 average, 20% added for GDP rises.
Photo on location at the outlook of Zone Three
Mineralised Seam Outcrops from Zone Three
Photo on location at the outlook of Zone Three
Photo on location at Avellanar Zone showing remnants of historic galena mine in the permit area
