REG - Premier African Min. - Zulu Lithium Plant Update

Premier African MineralsAnnouncement

10/04/2024 12:00

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RNS Number : 0549K  Premier African Minerals Limited  10 April 2024

Premier African Minerals Limited / Ticker: PREM / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

For immediate release

 

10 April 2024

Premier African Minerals Limited

 

 Zulu Lithium Plant Update

 

Premier African Minerals Limited ("Premier" or the "Company") is pleased to
provide an update on progress at operations at Zulu Lithium and Tantalum
("Zulu") since the Zulu engineering team took responsibility over the
operation and management of the plant in March.

 

 Highlights:

 Ø   Ore grade and contained spodumene in the ore fed to the plant is at grades
     consistently ranging from 1.1% Li20 to 1.7% Li2O.

 Ø   Stability in the comminution circuit has now been attained and the new mill
     and jet sizers are now consistently able to provide the required tonnage of
     correctly sized material to the thickener.

 Ø   The OEM for the float plant and thickener is now finally able to properly
     optimise and fully commission the floatation plant.

The Zulu Plant

Preliminary finding from the independent EPCM contractor (as announced on 13
March 2024) has confirmed a number of design issues related to the flow of
material between various components of the plant.

This affected the comminution and material sizing plant components. Material
flows from mill discharge to thickener feed are now stable.

All efforts are now focussed on the floatation plant. The key issues fall into
two categories as set out below together with current remedial actions and
anticipated timelines.

Throughput

In original test work, mica content was estimated at 17%. In early processing
actual mica content is closer to 27%. This is currently restricting throughput
to approximately 26 tons per hour of dry solids and the theoretical SC6 output
is 4.5 ton per hour until certain pumps and valves in the mica section are
upgraded. The OEM expects these components to be at site over the course of
April to enable an increase in throughput to the target rate of approximately
37 tons per hour.

Grade and Recovery

Whilst the plant has demonstrated its capability to produce SC6 to grade, it
is not able to do so consistently and achieve the desired and required
recoveries at present. The reasons include circulation between float cells,
resident time in float cells, and "in cell" slurry density. Our Zulu
engineering team in conjunction with the OEM team has identified both the
cause and the remedy and is in the process of attending to flow changes
between the various floatation cells. This problem is expected to be rectified
in the coming weeks.

George Roach, CEO commented, "Premier believes we are now in the home stretch
with commissioning the Zulu plant operation.

 

Our team at Zulu and our OEMs should be commended for what has been achieved
in the past 5 weeks and Premier looks forward to finally getting this plant
over the line. We have greater than 1,000 tons of mixed mica rich and
spodumene concentrate (not to grade) and with recent price improvements we are
exploring ways to commercially release some value for the product available.
SC6 will be held back until we have sufficient at grade material to ship to
our prepayment and off-take partner.

 

Premier need to express its deep appreciation to all who have stuck with us
through this tortuous journey and to our prepayment and off-take partner for
their understanding and support."

 

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 (http://www.premierafricanminerals.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
 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
 "EPCM"  Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management.
 "Li2O"  Lithium Oxide (Lithia) - an inorganic lithium compound used to assess lithium

       minerals.

 "OEM"   Original Equipment Suppliers.
 "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

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