Tembo will now hold 23%, with the balance of the loan repayment being about $600,000.

Base metal miner Independence Group is not involved in the current fund raising, with its $5 million investment last month at a price of 5c per share said by Orion chairman Denis Waddell to have been made with the understanding that further funding initiatives would be undertaken for completing the bankable feasibility study and exploration.

Orion plans to complete the BFS in the fourth quarter, have all permitting in place by mid-2019, construct the project in 2019 and 2020, and get into production in 2021.

Prieska's current resource totals 29.4 million tonnes grading 3.8% zinc and 1.2% copper, with processing of about 1.2Mt per annum under consideration.

Substantial underground infrastructure is in place from previous mining.

Shares in Orion were at 4.1c prior to the trading halt called in relation to the current placement.

At 4.1c the company was capitalised at A$57 million, with the stock up from levels around 2-3c 12 months ago.