JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's mines ministry on Thursday said Australia's Orion Minerals <ORN.AX> could go ahead with development of a 4 billion rand ($263 million) copper-zinc project in Northern Cape province.
"This latest investment confirms that South Africa remains a preferred investment destination for mining," the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said in a statement.
This week Orion, which operates in gold, copper, nickel and platinum, said the mining rights were valid for an initial 24 years and could be renewed on application.
(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; editing by Jason Neely)
