REG - Premier African Min. - Zulu Lithium Update

Premier African MineralsAnnouncement

18/01/2024 09:00

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RNS Number : 1542A  Premier African Minerals Limited  18 January 2024

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

For immediate release

 

18 January 2024

Premier African Minerals Limited

 

 Zulu Lithium Update

 

The Board of Premier African Minerals Limited ("Premier" or the "Company") is
pleased to provide an update on Zulu Lithium and Tantalum ("Zulu").

 

Resource Development

 

Mining operations at Zulu are currently focussed on a limited area of the
existing claims blocks and EPO. That area is our North and South Pit. Premier
plans to release a resource statement based on this area and focussed on the
tonnage of contained Spodumene in Q1 of 2024.

 

Classification of the economic Mineral of Interest at Zulu in the Mineral
Resource

 

The new mineral resource estimate for Zulu will primarily consider the tonnage
of Spodumene contained within the area of interest. With respect to Zulu, Li2O
grade alone without an understanding and estimation of the mineral assemblage
in the deposit, is a limited guide for mine planning and value assessment
purposes.

 

As background, Pegmatites as a source of Spodumene can be classified into
subtypes and contained Li2O associated with the minerals of economic interest.
In the case of Zulu, the main mineral of economic interest is Spodumene and
Zulu is classified as Petalite-subtype, Spodumene Quartz Intergrowths ("SQI")
dominant. Extensive powder XRD ("X-Ray Diffraction Analysis"), careful visual
logging and supportive elemental analysis show that more than 85% of the Li2O
reported at Zulu is attributable to Spodumene and that the only other lithium
bearing mineral of any significance is Lepidolite. At Zulu within the North
and South Pit Premier is able to estimate with reasonable confidence the
Spodumene tonnage contained in the deposit based on reported Li2O grade. Work
undertaken in both the Zulu laboratory and from independent historic test work
has indicated that the minimum economically viable and recoverable percentage
of Spodumene contained in Zulu ore body, is 4%. When Spodumene is the only
lithium bearing mineral in an ore body, the minimum economically viable Li2O
grade would be 0.37%.

 

SQI forms from the conversion of Petalite during the slow cooling of the
pegmatitic hydrothermal fluids. The Spodumene contained in the SQI is made up
of small crystals and is recoverable after milling and floatation, the process
followed at Zulu. Typically, a SQI dominant deposit with an overall Li2O grade
of 0.8% with 90% of this grade attributable to Spodumene, will contain
significantly more Spodumene than a Petalite subtype subordinate SQI deposit
made up of dominantly Petalite with a corresponding lower percentage of
Spodumene, even though the Li2O grade may be considerably higher. Recovery of
the Spodumene from a Petalite subtype subordinate SQI deposit is likely to
require a dense medium separation circuit and then may still need milling and
floatation.

 

It should be noted that the SQI dominant deposit at Zulu contains a low Iron
content, and this contributes to the anticipated production of technical grade
Spodumene concentrates.

 

Plant upgrades and optimisation

 

Major concerns with the plant over the past year have been well documented and
Premier now can confirm that Stark International Projects Limited has
undertaken to upgrade the UV sorters to include colour-based detection to
complement the use of XRT. The upgrade is expected to be installed and
operational before startup. A technical team from Germany is expected at Zulu
from 23 January 2024 to optimise the sorters and in so doing facilitate the
removal of waste material that has previously led to contamination of
concentrates. At the same time, a new thickener is under installation, and
this is expected to complement the floatation circuit by improving the density
and flow of slurry to the float plant.

 

Ball mill and material sizing

 

The new ball mill that has been custom built for Zulu is expected to depart
from South Africa in in the last week of January 2024 and will represent the
last major item to be positioned and connected for a restart of production
that is still anticipated late February 2024. By this time, an additional
hydrosizer, mill discharge screen, and associated tanks, sumps and pumps are
expected to have been installed.

 

Production costs, Spodumene pricing and sustaining Capital

 

Premier's internal budgets (which have not been independently verified)
predict an average production cost on a mine gate basis of US$800 per ton of
SC6. At present SC6 selling prices, and after an allowance for freight charges
of US$152 per ton, production at this point in time of basic SC6 standard
product is marginally profitable. However, Zulu is expected to produce a low
iron higher grade Spodumene concentrate in the normal course from clean ore as
previously indicated by Anzaplan in original test work, and as demonstrated in
Premier's laboratory at site. This Spodumene concentrate currently attracts a
substantial price premium which is expected to buffer the effects of the lower
SC6 prices at present.

 

The significant expansion in mining operations to facilitate delivery of ore
with less country waste and to compensate for any residual issues with the
sorters, together with the minor delay with the mill delivery has further
constrained Premier's cash resources. It is likely that additional funding
will be needed in the near term. Premier's contractors and suppliers are
assisting and alternatives to equity-based funding are under investigation.
With a project as well advanced as Zulu with a fully developed mine, and
market in place, this remains the only significant obstacle.

 

George Roach, CEO, commented" We have set out above a summary of the status
quo. The entire focus of our Company is on our Zulu project and unless there
are unforeseen circumstances that I have overlooked, and provided our plant
suppliers deliver as expected, we remain on target to produce late in February
2024."

 

Qualified Person

Bruce Cumming, geologist with Premier, has reviewed and approved this release
to the extent that reference is made to the geology of the Zulu pegmatites.
Mr. Cumming is a SACNASP and GSSA registered geoscientist with 48 years'
experience in exploration and project management, in multicommodity projects
throughout Africa.

 

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.

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.

 Glossary of Technical Terms:
 "Lepidolite"         A pink to lavender coloured lithium bearing mineral (KLi2Al(Si4O10)(F,OH)2).
 "Li(2)O"             Lithium Oxide (Lithia) - an inorganic lithium compound used to assess lithium
                      minerals.
 "Petalite"           A white coloured lithium bearing mineral (LiAl(Si4O10)).
 "pegmatite"          is an exceptionally coarse-grained igneous rock, with interlocking crystals,
                      usually found as irregular dikes, lenses, or veins, esp. at the margins of
                      granitic intrusions.
 "SC6"                Is a high-purity Spodumene concentrate with approximately 6 percent Li(2)O
                      content being produced as a raw material for the subsequent production of
                      lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
 "Spodumene"          A white to pink coloured lithium bearing mineral (LiAlSi2O6) containing up to
                      8.03% Li(2)O.
 "X-Ray Diffraction"  X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a widely used technique to assess the mineral
                      assemblage, crystallinity and structure of rocks, cores etc.
 "XRT"                X-ray sorting technique where specific mineral bearing rock can be separated

                    from specific mineral-poor rock and other impurities. This upgrades in metal
                      terms the material feed to the plant and lowers the tonnage of rock requiring
                      processing which results in substantially improved economics for mineral
                      processing operations.

 

Ends

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