Last checked at 23 Aug 2023 07:30
For immediate release
23 August 2023
Premier African Minerals Limited
Zulu Update
Premier African Minerals Limited ("Premier" or the "Company"), is pleased to provide a further update on the Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project ("Zulu") with particular reference to installation of the interim milling solution and concentrate grades.
Spodumene Concentrate Grade
The Board of Premier continues to expect that the Zulu plant will produce spodumene to the specification required by the Company's offtake partner.
Test work on Zulu was previously completed by Dorfner Anzaplan GmbH ("Dorfner"), a leading authority in the field of lithium and speciality minerals processing and treatment, and the results were notified on 16 June 2017. Dorfner reported that the rougher (spodumene) concentrate was upgraded in one cleaner stage to a concentrate with 6.5 wt.-% Li2O at 81.8wt.-% recovery.
Geolabs Global Pty Ltd ("Geolabs") have undertaken further floatation test work on material from Zulu this Summer. The spodumene rougher concentrate obtained from mica tailings at a grind size of p80 150 pm was subjected to a four-stage cleaner test. As a result, Geolabs have reported that a spodumene concentrate with a chemical grade of 6.56% Li2O, 0.26% K2O, 0.47% Na2O, and 2.31% Fe2O3 was achieved, along with an overall spodumene recovery of approximately 81%.
Geolabs further reported that based on the results, it may be worth testing magnetic separation on the final spodumene concentrate to reduce the Fe2O3 and meet the desired specifications. The plant at Zulu includes magnetic separation.
RHA Mill Installation
The planned relocation of the RHA mill to Zulu is an interim mitigation step. To date, the mill has been decommissioned at RHA and transported to the Zulu site and is under installation at present. Completion of civils and final assembly is underway, with installation of other feed and discharge components, pumps, control circuitry and grinding media charge all expected to be complete in the coming month when commissioning is planned to commence.
Stark have estimated that this interim step should result in sufficient correctly sized material feeding to the floatation circuit to achieve close to 50% of design capacity. On this basis the Company expects that new target production levels should be attainable by November 2023.
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.premierafricanminerals.com.
About Geolabs
Geolabs Global is a leading provider of mineral processing solutions for the mining and minerals industry, see https://www.geolabsglobal.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 |
Forward Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this announcement are or may be deemed to be forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identied 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 reect 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 | |
"Fe2O3" | Is the chemical formula of iron oxide. |
"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. |
"Li2O" | chemical formula of lithium oxide. |
"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). |
"Stark" | The Zulu design, procurement, installation, and commissioning contractor, Stark International Projects Limited. |
"wt.-%" | is weight percent. |
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.
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