REG - Premier African Min. - Zulu and Corporate Update

Premier African MineralsAnnouncement

31/07/2023 08:15

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230731:nRSe6991Ha&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 6991H  Premier African Minerals Limited  31 July 2023

31 July 2023

Premier African Minerals Limited

Offtake and Prepayment Agreement Update

Zulu and Corporate Update

Premier African Minerals Limited ("Premier" or the "Company"), is pleased to
provide a further update on the Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project ("Zulu") and
the Offtake and Prepayment Agreement ("Agreement") entered into between
Premier and Canmax Technologies Co., Ltd ("Canmax").

Offtake and Prepayment Agreement

As previously announced on 20 July 2023, the Company received, and
acknowledged, a further written notice from Canmax on 17 July 2023 that there
is a dispute under the Agreement and that both parties are now required to
seek to resolve the dispute in good faith by "friendly negotiation". To the
extent that the parties are unable to resolve the dispute in 10 days, then
either party may then refer the dispute to arbitration in Singapore.

The Board is pleased to report that these discussions, which remain ongoing,
are at an advanced stage and have been constructive. The Board's expectation
is that there is a common understanding between the parties and they are close
to a satisfactory resolution. Shareholders should note that as CanMax is
interested in more than 10 per cent. of the issued ordinary share capital of
the Company, any addendum to the Agreement will be a related party transaction
for the purposes of Rule 13 of the AIM Rules and will be dealt with in
accordance with AIM Rule 13.

Zulu plant modification update

Whilst certain of the required fixes as set out in the announcement dated 26
May 2023 and in the annual financial statements published at the end of June
2023 have been installed, optimisation and full commissioning has not yet been
concluded and the plant supplier, Stark International Projects Limited
("Stark") has not been able to deliver spodumene concentrate as expected and
production projections will need to be reviewed. The plant has demonstrated
its ability to produce concentrates from both the mica and spodumene sections
of the floatation plant. The ongoing optimisation will focus on the following
key aspects:

 ·         Increase in density of material provided to the floatation plant;
 ·         Installation as an intermediate upgrade of redundant RHA Tungsten rod mill at
           Zulu; and
 ·         Refinement of the spodumene concentrate to eliminate mica and lepidolite
           minerals.

Spodumene concentrates produced to date contain in the region of 50% spodumene
as determined by XRD analysis, but also up to 30% in mica minerals that cause
a dilution of the spodumene grade. With improvements through ongoing
optimisation and a refloating of concentrates produced to date, we expect that
the plant will produce spodumene to SC6 grade as we have already demonstrated
in our on-site laboratory.

Further updates are expected in the near term in regard to the plant
operations and production forecasts.

George Roach, CEO commented, "I am deeply appreciative to our team at Premier
and the team from Canmax for the work being undertaken in an effort to find a
satisfactory outcome.

In regard to Spodumene concentrate production, it is most encouraging to note
that we are able to produce high grade spodumene concentrates from the plant
material in our laboratory and to note that we expect to re-float concentrates
produced to date with the intention of having saleable material in the coming
weeks."

Corporate update

As previously announced, notice has been published for a General Meeting at
the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel, 35 Charles Street, London W1J 5EB, United
Kingdom at 13:00 (BST) on 12 August 2023 which shareholders are strongly
encouraged to vote in either person or through the proxy of the Chairman of
the meeting.

MAR (Market Abuse Regulation)

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.

 

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.premierafrican (http://www.premierafrican) minerals .com

 

Enquiries:

 

 George Roach                        Premier African Minerals Limited    Tel: +27 (0) 100 201 281
 Michael Cornish / Roland Cornish    Beaumont Cornish Limited            Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396

                                     (Nominated Adviser)
 Douglas Crippen                     CMC Markets UK Plc                  Tel: +44 (0) 20 3003 8632
 John More/Toby Gibbs                Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090

 

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
 "Floatation circuits"  Flotation circuits are a common technology for the concentration of a broad
                        range of minerals. Froth flotation is based on differences in the ability of
                        air bubbles to adhere to specific mineral surfaces in a solid/liquid slurry.
 "Lepidolite"           A pink to lavender coloured lithium bearing mineral (KLi2Al(Si4O10)(F,OH)2).
 "Micas"                Micas are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical
                        characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into
                        extremely thin elastic plates.
 "SC6"                  An important economic concentrate of spodumene, known as spodumene concentrate
                        6 or SC6, is a high-purity lithium ore with approximately 6 percent lithium
                        content being produced as a raw material for the subsequent production of
                        lithium-ion batteries.
 "Spodumene"            A white to pink coloured lithium bearing mineral (LiAlSi2O6).
 "XRD"                  X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a widely used technique to assess the mineral
                        assemblage, crystallinity and structure of rocks, cores etc.

 

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.

 

In addition, the Company holds a 19% interest in MN Holdings Limited, the
operator of the Otjozondu Manganese Mining Project in Namibia.

 
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 (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://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 (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDGUGDRIGXDGXB