RNS Number : 7525Y
Premier African Minerals Limited
01 August 2024
 

1 August 2024

Premier African Minerals Limited

 

 Zulu Lithium Plant Update

 

Premier African Minerals Limited ("Premier" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a further update on the commissioning progress of the recently installed scrubber unit at the Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project ("Zulu") as announced on the 17 July 2024.

 

Zulu Float Plant

 

Premier confirms that the suppliers of the float plant have firmly stated that they have full confidence in the ENPROTEC flotation units' capabilities to effectively produce SC6.

As previously announced, the plant has already produced a spodumene concentrate at 6.2% Li2O, effectively better than SC6. The suppliers of the float plant have confirmed that they are committed to determine what input changes can and need to be implemented to the plant operation to produce the required grade at the required recovery at target output and will apply these changes first on a laboratory scale to fully understand the effects of each and how to then implement these changes in the plant within the shortest time frame possible.

Anticipated changes relate to points at which reagents are dosed, agitation speeds and flow rates between components, slurry densities and cell resident times and Premier does not contemplate any additional plant or equipment at this time.

George Roach, CEO, commented, "On the one hand Premier is pleased that we are at the back end of the optimisation process, but frustrated that real optimisation of the float circuit could only properly start after Q1 2024 after commissioning of the new mill and subsequent installation of the scrubber.

The progress made this year on the most complex part of this plant is actually very good and we should not lose sight of the fact that this initial plant at Zulu is likely only the beginning of a long and exciting development for this project.

Premier would like to take this opportunity to remind shareholders that Premier's internal estimate (including Zulu) of the all- in-projected cost, which has not been independently verified, on a delivered China port basis, inclusive of all administrative and overhead costs is less than US$750 ton SC6 when plant output reaches 4,000 tons per month.

This cost per ton excludes any recovery of tantalum, excludes a potential double expansion of the float section of the plant based on the over-capacity in the comminution circuit, excludes any potential from high purity quartz and excludes the potential in the additional claims established in the EPO region."  

ENPROTEC

 

ENPROTEC have reviewed and approved this release to the extent that reference is made to the commissioning of the scrubber unit and expected performance of the scrubber unit.

 

ENPROTEC is a Multi-disciplinary Engineering Applications Group that Offers End-to-end Solutions to the Mining & Mineral Processing Industry. ENPROTEC aim to extract ore optimally and derive tangible value for its clients from their operations while eliminating environmental risks. ENPROTEC is a global partner in the mineral processing industry, offering a diverse range of solutions and technologies.

 

Market Abuse Regulations

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR").

The person who arranged the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was George Roach.

A copy of this announcement is available at the Company's website, www.premierafricanminerals.com

Enquiries:

 

George Roach

Premier African Minerals Limited

Tel: +27 (0) 100 201 281

Michael Cornish / Roland Cornish

Beaumont Cornish Limited

(Nominated Adviser)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

Douglas Crippen

CMC Markets UK Plc

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3003 8632

Toby Gibbs/Rachel Goldstein

Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090

 

Nominated Adviser Statement

Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting as nominated adviser to the Company in connection with this announcement and will not regard any other person as its client and will not be responsible to anyone else for providing the protections afforded to the clients of Beaumont Cornish or for providing advice in relation to such proposals. Beaumont Cornish has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this document and no liability whatsoever is accepted by Beaumont Cornish for the accuracy of any information, or opinions contained in this document or for the omission of any information. Beaumont Cornish as nominated adviser to the Company owes certain responsibilities to the London Stock Exchange which are not owed to the Company, the Directors, Shareholders, or any other person.

 

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this announcement are or may be deemed to be forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'' ''could'' "should" ''envisage'' ''estimate'' ''intend'' ''may'' ''plan'' ''will'' or the negative of those variations or comparable expressions including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth results of operations performance future capital and other expenditures (including the amount. Nature and sources of funding thereof) competitive advantages business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions competition environmental and other regulatory changes actions by governmental authorities the availability of capital markets reliance on key personnel uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions. The Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward looking statements.

 

Glossary

"Li2O"

Lithium Oxide (Lithia) - an inorganic lithium compound used to assess lithium minerals.

"SC6"

spodumene concentrate.


Notes to Editors:

Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM) is a multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company focused on Southern Africa with its RHA Tungsten and Zulu Lithium projects in Zimbabwe.

 

The Company has a diverse portfolio of projects, which include tungsten, rare earth elements, lithium and tantalum in Zimbabwe and lithium and gold in Mozambique, encompassing brownfield projects with near-term production potential to grass-roots exploration. The Company has accepted a share offer by Vortex Limited ("Vortex") for the exchange of Premier's entire 4.8% interest in Circum Minerals Limited ("Circum"), the owners of the Danakil Potash Project in Ethiopia, for a 13.1% interest in the enlarged share capital of Vortex. Vortex has an interest of 36.7% in Circum.

 

Ends

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
 
END
 
 
MSCGUGDIDSGDGSB