Zulu lithium prepare to resume production

ZIMBABWE focused diversified mining group, Premier African Minerals’ chief executive officer, Mr George Roach says the firm is gearing up to resume production in early February.

The board, he said, is optimistic that it is still on track to target revenue-generating production by late that month.

In November last year, the mining entity said plant operations had been partially suspended to allow for civil construction to commence in preparation for the installation of the 55-tonnes per hour ball mill and other associated structures.

Last week, the firm received more steel structures for its mill installation and the mining entity had set monthly production of up to 1 000 tonnes of spodumene.

Spodumene is a battery-grade product, which is key for the future of electric cars.

Premier African Minerals base cast construction complete

In an update, Mr Roach noted that civils associated with the thickener and new mill installation are substantially complete and first materials are now at the site with further loads on route.

He added that the mining entity is still on track to target revenue generating production by late next month.

“The new mill is expected to be the last component to be positioned at Zulu late in January 2024 with anticipated restart of operations as early in February as possible and the board believes as previously reported that the company is still on track to target revenue generating production by late-February 2024,” said Mr Roach.

The mining entity has its operations at Fort Rixon lithium mine in Matabeleland South Province.

According to Mr Roach, mining operations are now well developed, and they anticipate no issues associated with ore delivery to run of mine pad in future.

“While mining operations are a major cash cost at present, the future benefit when operations are underway at much reduced stripping ratios will more than offset this cost in the future,” he said.

Commenting on on-going mineralisation tests, he said test work in our laboratory at Zulu has consistently confirmed that Zulu is able to produce SC6 at acceptable grades from a contained spodumene content.

“Those surface trench and drill hole results originating from the Southeast pegmatite, represent very good potential for this pegmatite that is adjacent but discrete from the main mining and pit developments underway at present.

“More important is that geological logging indicates that the lithium mineralisation in this pegmatite is almost exclusively spodumene. For reference purposes, a grade of 1 percent Li2O when the mineralisation is all spodumene, is the equivalent of 12,5 percent of the ore body being made up of the mineral spodumene.

“Test work in our laboratory at Zulu has consistently confirmed that Zulu is able to produce SC6 at acceptable grades from a contained spodumene content in the ore body as low as 4 percent, representing a potential economic cut-off grade as low as 0.37 percent Li2O when the contained mineral is spodumene,” he added.

In 2022, China’s Canmax Technologies provided US$35 million in pre-funding to enable the construction and commissioning of a large-scale pilot plant.

Canmax is a producer of lithium electric materials and other related products.

On completion of the subscription, Canmax will be interested in 17,4 percent in the enlarged issued share capital of Premier.

After missing production timelines in June last year, Premier Africa Minerals issued a force majeure notice to China’s Canmax Technologies citing unforeseen operational hurdles encountered at its Zulu Lithium plant.

This meant that it could not supply spodumene concentrate to Canmax as per the set timelines stipulated in the offtake agreement.

Force majeure is a clause in contracts that essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance is beyond the control of the parties.

The plant was said not to be able to produce sufficient spodumene to meet the quantities of the off-take agreement with Canmax.

Canmax wanted to terminate the agreement, a development that could have negatively affected the Zulu Lithium project.

After extensive talks, both firms mended relations.-chronicle